Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!
by Samantha14
Summary: Rory has just recently gotten engaged, and, right on time, here come the complications!
1. Letters and Hangovers

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter One: Letters and Hangovers

Summary: Rory has just recently gotten engaged, and here come the complications!

Spoilers: Pfft! Okay, a few. Maybe. No, never mind. No spoilers! (Except for the most obvious one: Jess left for Venice Beach to see his dad)

Disclaimer: I own _nothing!_ Except for Kate. And Carol. And Josh. And Greg. And all the other new people. Oh, and the story.

Distribution: E-mail is nice. Please tell me if you wish to convey my words to anyone else! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com (and you can't use it too much!)

A/N: Okay, the idea hit me one day, and I'm not saying anything about the pairings. You'll just have to read to find out. But don't worry, everyone will be happy. (at least in the story. You might not, if you're a certain pairing. _But I'm not gonna tell you which one!_) Yeah, I'm a little cruel.

READ ON!!

Oh, and the best thing about this story is all of the even-numbered chapters, so cross your fingers for chapter two!!! It'll be fun!!!

~~~~

"Are you coming are you coming are you coming?" Lorelai Gilmore shouted into the phone.

"Mom, calm down," Rory Gilmore winced at her mother's loud voice. "Try to be a little quieter."

"Why, you got a hangover?"

"Ugh," Rory groaned in response, holding her head.

"You do? Rory Gilmore, daughter of mine, love of my life, St. Rory—how'd you get a hangover?"

"How do you think, Mom?"

"Well, whenever I get a hangover, it usually means I spent all last night drinking, but that doesn't seem like you…. Did you get drunk last night?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why?"

"The girls threw me a congratulatory party."

"I still can't believe you're getting married."

"Yeah, I am," Rory cradled the phone between her head and shoulder and stared at the beautiful diamond on her left hand.

"I also can't believe I haven't even met the guy yet."

"You did too."

"I did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Yes, you did. Remember when you surprised me at Christmas and I had a guy in my apartment?"

"That's him?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"You're marrying him?"

"Why, what's wrong with him?"

"Nothing, I guess. That was Greg?"

"Yes, Mom, that was Greg."

"I don't remember what he looks like."

"That's okay, we're coming."

"You are? When when when?"

"Mom, you quiet, me hangover, remember?" Rory held her head again.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. When when when?" Lorelai whispered.

"We're heading out there tomorrow after work."

"Ooh, for how long?"

"However long it takes."

"However long what takes?"

"Rory, Josh wants you in his office." Rory's assistant, Kate, stuck her head in the door of Rory's spacious office.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I gotta go. The boss wants me. Love you."

"I love you too, but you didn't answer my—"

"Sorry, Mom." Rory hung up the phone and started out of her office.

"By the way, congratulations," Kate said, pointing to Rory's hand.

"Oh, thanks, Kate."

"Is he a good guy?"

"He's a great guy."

Kate squealed. "Congratulations again!"

"Thanks again." Rory walked away from her assistant and into Josh Martins' office.

"Hey, Carol," she greeted Josh's assistant.

"Hey, Rory. Heard you got engaged."

"Yeah, I did." Rory held up her left hand, showing off the sparkling diamond.

"Ooh, fabulous ring! He pick it out himself?"

"Yeah."

"Anyone I know?"

"I think so. Greg Adams?"

"Todd Jenkins' PR agent?"

"That's the one."

"Didn't you used to date Todd?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Your ex-boyfriend introduced you to your fiancée?"

"Well, not really—"

"Carol! Stop gossiping and send Miss Gilmore in here, please." Josh's voice suddenly crackled through the intercom on Carol's desk.

"Yes, sir," Carol said back.  "Go on in. And congratulations."

"Thanks, Carol." Rory walked into Josh's inner office.

"Good afternoon, Miss Gilmore." Josh greeted.

"Afternoon, Mr. Martins."

"Sit down, please."

Rory obliged, smoothing out her navy blue skirt as she settled into the chair.

"I have something of importance I wish to discuss with you."

"Oh?" 

"I know that you are leaving for home tomorrow and I understand that home is Connecticut—far away from all of us here in New York."

"Yes."

"I have a favor to ask."

"Really?"

"Yes." Josh sighed and leaned forward in his chair. "Rory, someone very important is going to be around your area while you're there."

"Who?"

"She's going to be visiting her family, also."

"Oh. Who?"

"She's a very famous scientist, and we've been trying to get an interview with her for forever. She's just been nominated for a Nobel Award."

"And you want me to try to interview her?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Who is this again?"

"Paris Gellar."

"Oh, Paris? I know her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's one of my best friends. She's heading home with me and my other friend, and we're going to plan the wedding."

"Really." 

"You sound like you don't believe me. It's true. Paris and I went to high school and college together. I consoled her when she didn't make it into Harvard."

"She didn't get into Harvard?"

"Yep. So you want me to interview her?"

"Uh, yeah. And see if you can inject a little personal story, too."

"Sure."

"So you went to school with Paris Gellar."

"Yep."

"Who else did you go to school with?"

"You wanna know famous people?"

"Absolutely. This is a new side of you I haven't heard before."

"Okay. Well, you ever heard of Lane Kim and Dave Rygalski?"

"The drummer and guitar player?"

"Yeah. Lane's my other best friend."

"Wow. Anyone else?"

"Brad Langford, Kathy Fincher, Madeline Lynn—"

"Wait, Madeline Lynn, the editor-in-chief of _Hot magazine?"_

"That's the one."

"Huh. Cool. This is a very interesting development."

"Mmm. Maybe, just maybe, you should get to know your reporters better, so interesting developments such as this don't get buried and lost for five years."

"Eh, whatever. You can go now."

"Yeah, thanks, Josh." Rory stood from the chair and turned to go.

"You can get us interviews with these people?"

"Most of 'em, probably."

"Cool. Cool."

"No, actually, I believe the word is 'coo.' Just like that. No 'l'." 

"Get outta here, Gilmore. Go home to your fiancée."

Rory smiled and walked completely out of Josh's inner office before realizing what he'd said.

"How'd you know?" she demanded, stalking back in.

"Todd told me." Josh said softly.

"Oh. Is he still mad?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Oh." Rory said once again. "If you see him, tell him I'm sorry."

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask. See you tomorrow." Rory turned to leave again.

"Wait, I thought you were going home tomorrow."

"We're leaving after work. Greg's busy."

"Oh, okay. See you then."

"Kay. Bye." Rory waved and left.

"Rory Adams." Josh tried out Rory's future name and shook his head. "Rory _Gilmore_. Much better."

~~~~

Rory jostled the objects in her hands, sliding the video she had just rented and the mail she had just received into her purse. Doing so freed up her left hand, so she switched her thermos of coffee and bag of take-out from her right hand to her left, which allowed her to dig in her purse for her keys. Flipping the key ring around, she somehow managed to pick out her apartment key, and as she tried to stick it in the keyhole, her phone started ringing.

"Ahh, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Rory said, frantically trying to slide the key into the door, while pulling the door towards her, and turning the key to open the door. Mrs. Baker, the building sourpuss, leaned out of her apartment and scowled as Rory's purse dropped to the floor. "Hey, how ya doin?" Rory nodded, and Mrs. Baker just leaned back into her apartment. Rory finally managed to get the door open and she burst into the room, setting her take-out bag on the end table just inside the door.

"Hello?" Rory grabbed the phone from its spot on her couch, and then turned to head back outside to get her purse.

"However long _what_ takes?" Lorelai moaned into the phone.

"Mom?"

"Rory." Lorelai acknowledged her daughter with a normal tone of voice, and then started whining again. "You hung up on me without answering my question!"

"Sorry, Mom, but Josh wanted to see me."

"Stupid boss."

"He pays me. And he's nice." Rory hung her purse over a dining room chair, pulled the videos and mail out, and started flipping through the envelopes.

"Just as long as he pays you."

"That's what I think. So what were you all freaked about?"

"I asked how long you and Greg were going to be here, and you said 'however long it takes,' and I said, 'however long _what takes'—"_

"And I never answered you."

"Right."

"Okay, well, it's a secret."

"Uh! A secret? You are keeping a secret from your dear old poor mother?"

"You are not old," Rory protested, ripping into a letter. "You're only forty-four."

"Yes, see, I'm already in my forties. Death is not far off."

"You are so melodramatic. You need coffee." 

"Yes, that is true." 

"Okay, I'm gonna answer you indirectly." Rory picked up her take-out bag and placed it on her dining room table as she sat down.

"Stupid Yale and its stupid big words."

"Indirectly is not a big word."

"I told you I needed coffee."

"Apparently. Anyway, I just want you to know that you should keep the summer pretty clear of any big plans."

"Ooh! Why?"

"Because we're probably going to be there for a while."

"Ooh! Why?"

Rory laughed. "You'll see. Greg wants us to tell everything to everyone at the same time."

"Why? So he can be fair? That's so overrated."

"A man gives me a diamond, I do what he says. But not everything, of course."

"Of course."

"So, how've you been doing?"

"Oh, my God! I had the worst date of my life last night!" And Lorelai was off.

"Uh-huh. Oh, yeah," Rory murmured at certain intervals, still looking through her mail. She'd received about twenty bills, and was just now getting to the actual mail. There was an invitation to a movie premiere, a couple of invitations to different parties, a letter from a friend of Rory's that she'd met in Brazil, and a final, thick letter, in an almost yellowing envelope, postmarked from Venice Beach, California with no return address. Still murmuring affirmations to her mother, Rory used the nearby letter opener to slit the envelope open. Out flowed a plethora of letters, some folded multiple times and almost ragged, some almost brand-new, and some small slips of paper, with one word notes.

"Oh, my God," Rory whispered as she recognized the handwriting.

"What? It's not that shocking. He _did tell me he was weird."_

"No, I just got the most interesting letter."

"Ooh, whose movie is it?"

"Only movie premiere I got was from that girl you don't like."

"The one with the--?"

"Yeah."

"Uch. What's the interesting letter?"

"It's from someone I haven't heard from in a long time."

"Chris?"

"No, I've heard from Dad. I just talked to him yesterday."

"Oh. Dean?"

"No. And what made you think of Dean?"

"Oh, I dunno. Actually, yeah, I do know. I hired Clara to work at the Inn today."

"How is Clara?"

"Pregnant."

"What?"

"Yep. She's been going to college, but she's dropping out to have the baby."

"Oh, my God."

"Yeah. She's moving back here, and she needed a job. So I offered her one."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty."  
  


"Where's the dad?"

"Gone."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Hits close to home."

"Almost _too_ close."

"Yeah."

"But anyway, who's the letter from?"

"You don't like him."

"Ooh, it's a him! Uh…George W. Bush? Mark Wahlberg?"

"Mom, not every piece of mail I get is from someone famous."

"Well, who is it then?"

"Jess."

"Mariano?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"Nephew of Luke?"

"Yeah."

"Luke Danes?"

"Mom, yes! It's a letter from Jess!"

"Ooh, you rhymed!"

"Ooh, I did. I'm spending too much time with you."

"You can never spend too much time with me."

"I disagree."

"That was rude."

"I agree. I'm hung over, though. And you keep yelling."

"Oh, sorry."

"Yeah. Listen, Mom, I love you and everything, but I'm gonna go now."

"Okay. You read the letter from Jess that I know you really wanna read but don't wanna tell me about, and I'll go watch another episode of _Friends. I tell you, it's on, like, twice a minute."_

"It hasn't been new for years."

"I know! But it's still on _all the time!!"_

"Okay, well you watch that, I'll read, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"That works for me. Love ya."

"I love you too, Mom."

"See you tomorrow. Seven or so?"

"Hopefully."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Rory pressed the off button on the receiver and lowered it onto the table. She stared at the letters spread all around her. Making up her mind, she started arranging all the pieces of paper according to the date. After ten minutes she'd counted twenty-seven dated letters—ranging from late May 2003 to late April 2011—forty small notes, and three one word slips of paper. She stacked the three piles one on top of the other and stood up, taking the rest of her mail with her. She placed the bills on her kitchen counter, tacked the invitations to her bulletin board, and threw away the advertisements. Then she walked past her dining room table again, staring at the letters. 

"Maybe…. No." She shook her head and walked away from them, into her kitchen. She pulled her hamburger and french fies from her brown take-out bag, piled them on a microwave-able plate, and stuck them in her microwave. Waiting for her food to get warm, she grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge and stood in her kitchen doorway, staring at her dining room table. Finally steeling her nerves, she took one step toward the letters, but the microwave beeped, and she got her food, the letters pushed to the back of her mind.

Her doorbell buzzed and, carrying the plate of food and the bottle of water, she ran to her front door.

"Hello?" she inquired, trying to press the button with one finger. 

Static… "man" …static… "ring" …even more static… garbled word… "up?"

"Sure," Rory answered her doorman, and then walked back into her kitchen. She placed the food on the counter, along with the water, and then dug in her refrigerator for the ketchup. She found it and started pouring it over her french fries. Satisfied with the amount of tomato-ey goodness over her potatoes, she grabbed her salt and pepper shakers and made a small pile on her plate, making sure it didn't touch the fries.

"Hello?" Greg called, using his key to enter her apartment.

"Hey!" Rory smiled, walking from the kitchen to the living room, carrying her dinner. "How was your day?" she asked, amending her path to lead her to her fiancée. 

"Unimpressive," he responded, kissing her on the cheek. "You?"

"Hung over."

"Hung over?"

"Extremely. What'd you do last night?" Rory smiled and led Greg to the couch. She placed her plate on the coffee table and sat on the floor. Greg sat on the couch. 

"Uh, called my mom."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so sweet."

"Thank you. What'd you and the girls do? Drink?"

"Oh, yeah. Apparently when you get engaged, you're supposed to get completely trashed with all of the famous people you know."

"Who ended up going?"

"Ashley, Jamie, Remy, Kimmy, Ceci—"

"Anyone whose last name doesn't end in 'y'?" Greg asked jokingly.  
  


"Hmm, no." Rory laughed. "Yeah. There were a few."

"Ah." Greg leaned over and stole one of Rory's french fries; she slapped his hand as he was lifting it to his mouth. He laughed and ate it anyway. She glared at him playfully. "So what time are we going to see your mother tomorrow?"

"I was hoping we could leave around four?"

"Sure." Greg slid down from the couch to sit next to Rory. He slid one arm around her shoulders and used the other hand to steal another french fry. 

"Are you sure you can leave that early?" Rory asked worriedly.

"Ror, sweetie, don't worry! I don't have anything to do tomorrow. No clients to see at all."

"But…I thought you did."

"Nope. Nothing."

"Oh. Well, then, can we leave at eight?"

"At night?"

"Morning, Greg, eight a.m."

"Oh, sure. Although we should probably wait till about ten or so, to beat the traffic."

"That is a perfect idea! Thank you so much!" Rory leaned over and kissed Greg softly on the lips.

"For what?" 

"For arranging your schedule so we can leave early! I'd love to officially introduce you to my mother as soon as possible."

"Should I be expecting anything?"

"She's crazy and off-the-wall, like an older, more caffeinated version of me."

"That bad, huh?"

Rory hit him playfully in the stomach, and he laughed. 

"Okay, so she's like you, only older. I'll probably love her, too."

"You are being so sweet tonight!"

"Even sweeter than when I proposed?"

"Not quite. That was a good night."

"I agree." Greg smiled, and this time he leaned in for the kiss. 

After a movie and many more stolen french fries, Greg stood up from the floor, stretched, and announced that he had to leave. Rory protested the proper amount of time, and then kissed him and bid him adieu. As she was walking into her kitchen to deposit her dirty plates, she noticed the letters from Jess again. She ignored them for another five minutes, and then finally ran to the table and picked the first one up.

Rory-- 

_If you're reading this, than I'm gone. _

_Yeah, I know that's clichéd, but I've redone this letter so many times, and that's the only thing that really works._

_I'm gone. _

_Yeah, I know I'm gone. Yeah, I know I haven't seen you in days, and yeah, I know that I'm writing this in my dad's apartment in Venice Beach, CA. _

_But I'm gone. That's the only way to say it. _

_I'm sorry. _

_I never meant to hurt you. I know I should have given you a proper goodbye, but, hell, at least you got one this time, you know?_

_I hope you haven't cried over me. _

_If you have, or are planning to, don't. It's a stupid thing to do. I'm a stupid guy to cry over, and you're way too smart to cry over a boy._

_This is a crappy letter. I should end it soon. I should have ended it about a hundred words ago._

_Whatever. I don't think I'm mailing this letter, anyway, I'm just using this to get my thoughts out, my thoughts that I'd wished I'd voiced to you before I packed up and left._

_I still remember the day we said goodbye._

_I bet you do too._

_It was only a few days ago._

_Don't cry._

_I won't if you don't._

_Graduate with honors. Be nice to everyone around you. Drink coffee. Laugh with Lorelai and Lane._

_Be you._

_Jess._

Rory shook her head, folded the letter, and placed it gently back into its envelope. Disbelievingly, she pushed her chair away from the table and walked to her room.__


	2. Boyfriend Boxes

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter Two: Boyfriend Boxes

Summary: Rory has just recently gotten engaged, and here come the complications!

Spoilers: None here! At least, I don't think so. I've been kinda sick lately, so I'm not sure of anything. 

Disclaimer: I own _nothing!_ Except for Noel. And Todd. And Paul. And Dean. He's in prison. And Jess. He's tied to the bed, but he's not in prison. No, wait, sorry, that's in my head.

But I really do own Noel and Todd and Paul.

Distribution: E-mail is nice. Please tell me if you wish to convey my words to anyone else! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com (and you can't use it too much!)

A/N: This is absolutely the best part of my new story. You'll love it, I swear.

Okay, when something says "Dean: blah-blah-blah," it means that Dean said, "blah-blah-blah." There is no action, because the boxes are talking, not the actual people. Although the boxes are pretty up-to-date on Rory's love life. But anyway….

~~~~

Dean: I hate this closet.

Jess: _You_ hate this closet? You're not a free spirit. 

Todd: Dude, did you just call yourself a free spirit? Cause 1, if you say you're a free spirit, you're not a free spirit, and B, If anyone's a free spirit, it's me.

Noel: Oh, my God! Would you stop doing the goddamn (1) (B), (A)(2) thing? Everyone knows you stole it from Paul Reiser on _Mad About You!_

Dean: I didn't know that.

Noel: You're a complete pop-culture idiot. I don't know how you even went out with Rory.

Dean: I was her first boyfriend.

Jess: In other words, he was new in town, the only guy she hadn't grown up with.

Dean: The same could be said for you, diner boy.

Noel: But Rory and Jess had a lot in common. Books, movies, crap like that.

Jess: Yeah. 

Dean: Why are you sticking up for him? He's your competition.

Noel: No, he's not. By the time I got to know Rory, she'd already gotten over Jess.

Paul: How long was that again? I keep forgetting.

Noel: They split up in May, and we got together at Thanksgiving at the dorm.

Dean: And split up the next Thanksgiving.

Noel: Hey, man, we've already gone over this! After a year, we felt that we'd grown apart, so we _mutually_ agreed to be good friends. Unlike the time you split up with her cause she didn't say "I love you"!

Dean: Well, she didn't love me. And I loved her.

Noel: She was sixteen, and you'd been going out for three months!  
  


Jess: We never said we loved each other.

Todd: Neither did we.

Noel: We did, once, and then we agreed to not bring it up again. 

Dean: Well, she obviously didn't love any of you.

Jess: Oh, no. She loved me.

Noel: Oh, she did, I know.

Dean: What about you?

Noel: I think we just thought it was time. 

Dean: See? She didn't love you.

Noel: That's okay, I didn't love her like that either. I liked Paris.

Jess: You liked Paris?

Noel: Yeah. I got over that quick.

Paul: Yeah, once she kneed you in the groin.

Dean: She kneed you in the groin?

Noel: Yeah. Stop laughing. It's not funny.

Jess: Why'd she do that?

Noel: I told her that she needed to chill. School wasn't everything.

Dean: And she kneed you in the groin?

Noel: Yes, then she kneed me in the groin. 

Jess: That sucks.

Noel: Totally.

Jess: Careful, I'll start quoting _The Breakfast Club_ to you.

Noel: Totally? Totally.

Jess: I wanna be you, I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights.

Noel: Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers? No, Mr. Johnson.

Todd: Okay, great, we get it. You guys like _The Breakfast Club_. Have you ever seen any of my movies?

Jess: No, thank God.

Dean: Same here.

Noel: Me too.

Todd: Okay, you guys don't count, you're too old to have seen 'em. What about you, Paul?

Paul: I think I took my girlfriend to see one once.

Todd: Which one?

Paul: _Virtual Dreaming_, I think.

Todd: That one came out in…'07. When'd you go out with Rory?

Paul: '05 to '06, one month in '08.

Todd: You're the guy who knocked up his girlfriend and ran off to marry her?

Paul: Yeah.

Todd: Oh, she hated that. She hated _you_ cause of that.

Paul: I never thought she should have been that mad. I didn't cheat on her or anything.

Jess: The same thing happened to her mom, asshole.

Paul: Oh.

Dean: Her dad came back and was gonna get together with her mom, and then his girlfriend was pregnant, so he left them.

Paul: That sucks.

Noel: You didn't know that?

Paul: No.

Noel: What did you talk about?

Paul: I dunno. Stuff.

Jess: Oh, that's a nice relationship.

Dean: And what did the two of you talk about after you finally started going out?

Jess: Books. 

Dean: Kissing.

Jess: Yeah, the kissing was new to us, at that point.

Dean: Except for the one at Sookie's wedding.

Jess: How'd you know about that?

Todd: Guys! We've been over that! Leave it alone!

Noel: Yeah, really. We're supposed to be discussing something much more important. Rory's _new _boyfriend.

Todd: He's an asshole.

Noel: You're just mad cause he stole her from you.

Todd: He's still an asshole.

Noel: You know, it's your own fault that she dumped you. You were spending all of your time working for charity, not telling her when you were jetting off to Kuwait…. Obviously she was going to leave you soon.

Paul: Yeah, and she jumped into Greg's arms cause he was your PR agent, and spending a lot of time with her.

Todd: Yeah, but still.

Jess: We know. He's an asshole. I don't think I'll consider him an asshole until he breaks Rory's heart. Like Paul did.

Paul: You consider me an asshole?

Jess: You broke her heart, man, and then you didn't even know why she was so mad.

Paul: Do the rest of you think I'm an asshole?

Dean: Yeah.

Paul: I guess I am, kind of.

Noel: I think we all did some pretty asinine things at one point or another. 

Dean: I was too possessive. And I broke up with her in front of the town.

Jess: I treated her like crap.

Dean: Yeah, that was a sucky thing to do.

Jess: Shut up, Dean.

Noel: I took her for granted after a while.

Paul: I didn't pay any attention to her family, and then I left her to marry my pregnant girlfriend.

Todd: I ignored her. I think we actually went on two dates—the rest of the time I was out of the country.

Dean: That's pretty bad.

Noel: You broke up with her in front of the town. And _Shane_. That was stupid.

Jess: I went out with Shane. That was stupider.

Paul: I agree. 

Dean: Me, too. What'd you do with her, anyway?

Jess: You're too young to know.

Dean: Oh.

Jess: Yeah.

Paul: Hey, did any of us…you know…with Rory? I didn't.

Todd: Me neither. I know that for sure.

Dean: I didn't. I still had her pretty young.

Noel: I didn't. We talked about it, and she said she was waiting.

Jess: We didn't, either. 

Paul: So no one did?

Todd: I wonder if Greg is.

Noel: Dude, that's a sick thought.

Todd: I know. But I wonder if she still is?

Jess: Yeah. Could we sacrifice her for a good harvest?

Paul: We'll just have to wait till Greg's box comes in here.

Dean: I hate to break it to you, guys, but I don't think Greg's box is gonna come in here.

Todd: But…he hasn't even met Lorelai yet.

Dean: Well, no, not officially.

Jess: How did they manage that, anyway? They've been going out for two years.

Noel: They've just managed to be really busy at different times, and Lorelai's always visited when he's off with someone else.

Paul: That's weird.

Todd: Yeah, it is. But then again, that's the kind of asshole Greg is.

Jess: I don't think he's an asshole. 

Dean: I think he's her one.


	3. Strange Things

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life! 

Chapter Three: Strange Things (AKA Packing Is An Ordeal)

Summary: Rory has just recently gotten engaged, and here come the complications!

Spoilers: Nope, no spoilers. I'll probably delete this section of the introduction in the next chapter. Cross your fingers! 

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for the story, you know. I own that. And the new characters. And Milo. Actually, all I own is a picture of Milo—a poster. Dear God, that boy is hot!

Distribution: E-mail is nice. Please tell me if you wish to convey my words to anyone else! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com (and you can't use it too much!)

A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews! Everyone really liked the boyfriend boxes; so do I, so that's good.

For the few of you who did not understand: If you have ever seen the season one finale, you see where Rory finds the Dean box, and Lorelai starts babbling about how she shoved it in the closet with the Max box so they could talk about how they each had a Gilmore girl and lost a Gilmore girl, so the boxes in my story are all together and talking to each other, and some of the older boxes-Dean, Jess, Noel-don't know that much about the newer boxes-Paul, Todd-but they've learned, since now they've spent over two years together. 

~~~~

Greg was sitting on the couch in Rory's apartment, watching as Rory flew around the place, trying to pack. As she ran through the living room and started throwing books into a bag near her feet, Greg discreetly glanced at his watch. Well, not discreetly. He lifted his wrist, looked at his watch, and did a double take. Then he sighed, shook his head, and lowered his wrist.

Rory didn't pay any attention. 

After twenty more minutes, he finally decided to address the problem directly.

"Ror?" he asked as she ran to the dining room table.

"Uh-huh," she said distractedly.

"Are we gonna leave soon?"

"I'm sorry, honey, I'm still trying to pack." Rory rushed past him and back into her room, in the back of the apartment. Greg stood up and followed her.

"You've known we were going for a while now."

"I know."

"What would you have done if you'd gone to work today?"

Rory finally stopped and faced Greg sheepishly. "I did go to work today."

"Rory!"

"I know, I know I wasn't supposed to, but I told Josh I'd be in, so I thought I'd just go in and tell him I wasn't gonna be there."

"You couldn't have called?"

"And I also wanted to pick up a few things." Rory turned back to her bed and started re-folding her clothes so they would fit in her suitcase.

"Ah, the truth comes out. Now, I told you you were supposed to relax."

"I know."

"We're leaving for three months, you know."

"I know. But they need me!"

"Sweetie, I know they need you. Believe me, I get the feeling." Greg wrapped his arms around Rory's waist. She smiled into his eyes. "But you need to relax. Well, relax as much as you can planning a wedding."

Rory laughed.

"A laugh. Laughs are good. They mean you're relaxed."

Rory nodded. 

"Okay? So are you gonna leave the laptop at home?"

Rory paused, and then shook her head.

"Have I taught you nothing?" Greg sighed.

"I promised I'd get an interview with Paris."

"One interview. One story. No more. Promise me."

"But Josh said-"

"Do I care what Josh said? No, I don't. You need to relax."

"But I have to-"

"You don't have to do anything, babe. Nothing at all. You can do the Paris interview, cause I know she just got nominated for a Nobel Prize, and she's looking for publicity. But that's it. After that interview, nothing. Please? For me?" Greg did his puppy-dog eyes, and Rory laughed again.

"Okay, for you."

"Good." Greg pulled her closer and hugged her. "Now finish packing."

"You wanna help?"

"Sure. I've been packed for a week."

"Shush. Gilmores are known to be last-minute packers. If we can't freak out over something before we leave somewhere, we freak out."

Greg laughed. "What can I do?"

"Find all these books, please. And go to the coffee shop and buy me some ground coffee. And some muffins for the car ride. And two cups of coffee." Rory handed Greg a list of books.

"Okay. I'll go get the coffee and stuff first, and then I'll do the books."

"Do the books first, and then the coffee, so the coffee's still warm when we get going."

"Which'll be when?"

"An hour, tops."

"That's what you said two hours ago."

"I'm always late when I go to see my mom. Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to tell her we were leaving early." Rory started walking to the phone near her bedside table, but Greg grabbed her at the waist and spun her around.

"We'll call her from the car. Or we could surprise her."

"Oh! Surprise her! That's a good idea. Thanks."

"It was nothing. Pack." Greg kissed Rory quickly, pointed at her open suitcases, and left the room.

~~~~

After another two hours of packing, Rory and Greg had finally left New York at two, three hours before their original time, and four hours after their amended time. With a minimum amount of traffic between the city and Stars Hollow, they arrived outside of Luke's Diner at four-thirty. 

"Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee," Rory said in a sing-song voice as Greg pulled to a stop in front of the diner. 

"You really do have a one-track mind."

"No, two one-tracks, actually. When I'm at work and full of coffee, my one-track mind's on work. Otherwise, it's on coffee."

"No track for me?" Greg asked as they met outside of the car.

"Only as long as you promise never to say anything that cheesy again."

"Mmm, I'll try." Greg smiled and entwined his fingers in Rory's. They walked into Luke's, Greg playing with Rory's diamond ring with one finger. 

The second the bells started ringing, Luke, standing behind the counter, looked up. As soon as he saw who it was, he smiled, and patiently waited for the couple to walk towards him, which they did.

"New around here?" Luke smiled.

"Hey, Luke. Coffee. In an IV." Rory pleaded as she collapsed onto a stool. Greg sat next to her.

"More like your mother each day," Luke shook his head as he went about getting her coffee.

"Which is not such a bad thing."

"Depends on your viewpoint. Here you go." Luke placed the cup in front of Rory, who drank it gratefully. Luke turned to Greg. "Coffee for you, too?"

"Uh, can I get a water instead?"

"You with Rory?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah. Hopefully for a long time." Greg smiled at his fiancée, who shook her head.

"No more cheesy stuff."

"Sorry." Greg turned back to Luke. "What's so weird about me wanting water?"

"Well, you two came in here looking pretty friendly, and I didn't think anyone could be friends with a Gilmore and not drink coffee."

"I drink coffee, just not as much as Ror."

"And you're friends with Mom and don't drink coffee," Rory pointed out, now officially interested in the conversation now that her ambrosia was gone.

"That's because I'm stubborn and refuse to change. Here's your water." Luke plopped a clear glass in front of Greg, who nodded his thanks. 

"Yes, that's what Mom would say, too. Speaking of her, have you seen her around?"

"She came in for lunch, and then headed back to the Inn. Sookie was busy today."

"Ah. So she probably won't be home till later?"

"No, she'll probably be home on time, she just won't be wandering around the town till six-thirty or so."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Luke."

"Anytime, Rory. You're always welcome here."

"Thanks," Rory smiled as Luke walked off to take someone's order. Then she turned and stared at Greg, who was looking around the diner, his water forgotten. He glanced over at her and started.

"You need something?"

"Yes, finish your water and let's go."

"What? Where?"

"I'm showing you around Stars Hollow. Or, you know, at least part of it."

"Okay." Greg swallowed the rest of his water in one big gulp and they left the diner.

~~~~

"So he's the mailman-" Greg tried to clarify as he and Rory walked up the steps of the Gilmore home later that afternoon.

"And video-store clerk, head cashier at Doose's-"

"Which is the market, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, that's one right."

"Yeah, one out of twenty thousand."

"You know, you have a penchant for exaggerating."

"And you have a penchant for injecting the word penchant into almost every conversation."

"I do not!"

"Oh, don't regress on me now!"

"You used a big word!"

"I admit I use big words-it's what comes from being a journalism major at Yale, taking thousands of English courses."

"You always have to win, don't you?"

"You've learned my secret," Rory smiled and rang the doorbell. 

"It really wasn't that hard to learn," Greg muttered.

"I know," Rory said proudly.

"Ack! I swear, I'll be there soon! The…couch just tripped me!" Lorelai called from inside the house. Greg smiled at Rory.

"She sounds like Cathy from the cartoon strip when she says 'Ack.'" Rory said.

"It's endearing."

"Big word! I win!" Rory announced triumphantly.

"I'm here!" Lorelai announced, pulling the door open. "Rory! Babe!" She threw her arms around her daughter. "You're early!"

"We left earlier than I thought we would."

"What time?" Lorelai asked, looking at Greg, while still hugging Rory. 

"Two."

"It's six-thirty! That's shocking, Rory." Lorelai broke the hug to look at her daughter.

"We were here two hours ago. We've been killing time."

"Uh-huh, that's what they all say." Lorelai fully released Rory, and then leaned against the doorjamb, crossing her arms and staring at Greg. "So. Greg. Your real name isn't Gaylord Focker, is it? Cause if it is, I gotta call my husband, and then since he's a former CIA operative, he's gonna talk to you in Thai and then perform a polygraph test on you." Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "You aren't a crackhead, are you?"

"No, I'm not. Don't worry, though, I'll certainly take good care of Pam here, and I promise not to break the urn holding your husband's dead mother's ashes or sniff your son's boxers. And my name's not Gaylord, it's Gregory."

"Oh, Gregory!" Lorelai immediately switched mindsets. "Well, Gregory-can I call you Greg? Good. Well, Greg, you stand here with Dharma, and I'll go get her father Larry. He's still messed up from the sixties and seventies. You know, we're not married. We've been together since before Dharma was born, but we're still not married. Larry doesn't believe in marriage, cause he thinks that's the government's way of keeping its eye on you."

"Well, Abby, to each his own, I guess. You know, I think if you talked to him about it, he might take it into consideration, and he might even marry you, you know?"

"I love you!" Lorelai said, finally breaking character and being herself again. She threw her arms around Greg's neck, standing on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. "You're gonna make it in this family just fine!"

"Thanks. Are you Lorelai now?"

"Oh, of course I am. Come in, come in, you've been standing here for forever!" Lorelai, holding Greg's hand, pulled him into the house, leaving a bewildered Rory on her own. After a second, she followed them. Walking through the house, she found them in her old room, looking at an old friend.

"Colonel Clucker!" Rory exclaimed, dropping her bags near the door and stepping over them to grab the stuffed rooster from Lorelai's hand. "I haven't seen him in forever!"

"You'd see him more if you came more often," Lorelai pouted.

"I've been busy, Mom. Work. You understand."

"She's been too busy to spend too much time with me, either, and I live three blocks away." Greg said to Lorelai.

"She's always been uber-obsessed with school and work. Well, more work now that she's out of school."

"Right."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Rory exclaimed.

"Sorry, sweetie," Greg said, slipping one arm around her waist and kissing her head. Lorelai watched the couple, wondering at how in love they were. She hadn't had that in so long.

"So, Rory, I'm guessing you've already stopped by Luke's?"

"Yeah," Rory said sheepishly.

"Oh, that's okay. I brought you up to love coffee more than life itself, and apparently I've succeeded." Lorelai rubbed her hands together and waggled her eyebrows evilly. "My evil plan is working."

The other two laughed, and then Rory placed Colonel Clucker lovingly on her dresser and held a hand out to her mother. 

"What say we go get coffee?"

"Wonderful idea. And dinner, too, cause I have no food."

"Have you ever had food in the house?"

"Uh, no." Lorelai shook her head, and mother and daughter started walking out of the house. Greg followed.

~~~~

"No, I don't care if that's the theme of the movie, the best song is still 'Let's hear it for the boy'," Lorelai protested as she, Greg, and Rory walked into Luke's.

"But 'Footloose' is such a great song!" Greg protested. 

"Yeah, but when you hear the beginning of 'Let's hear it for the boy', automatically you start thinking about the musical montage where Kevin Bacon's teaching Chris Penn rhythm."

"It's easier to dance to 'Footloose'."

"'Footloose' is by Kenny Loggins!" Lorelai shouted.

"Ooh, that's the final nail in the coffin. You've lost," Rory said to Greg. He mockingly hung his head in defeat.

"Celebratory cup of coffee, Luke," Lorelai implored as she walked to the counter. "And a side of defeat fries for my friend over here."

"Coffee for me too, Luke," Rory said.

"You're both killing yourself with caffeine." Luke scolded.

"Eh, who cares?"

"Yeah. Really. Do you care?" Rory turned to Greg.

"You marry me, then you can kill yourself with caffeine. All I ask."

"You're getting married?" Luke asked, slightly shocked. He poured coffee for both girls, still staring at Rory.

"Yeah. To Greg." 

"And she's got a killer ring!" Lorelai announced, shoving her daughter's left hand under Luke's nose.

"Wow. You're engaged. Are you old enough?" 

"Luke," Lorelai said. Luke glanced at her, and she shot him a look.

"Oh, right, yeah. Sorry. You wanted defeat fries. I'll get those." Luke left the coffee pot on the counter and walked into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Rory asked.

"I dunno, but he left the coffee!" Lorelai exclaimed. She grabbed the pot and filled her coffee cup to the brim, and then did the same to Rory. She waved the pot at Greg, but he just shook his head. "Hey, Rory, I think I found his drawback."

"It's not a drawback," Rory protested. "He leaves all the coffee for me."

"Oh, that's thrilling! I've just gotten that since you moved out. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

"Just fabulous." Rory smiled at her mother and they both sipped their coffee.

~~~~

"Who else do you know?" Lorelai, walking backwards up the stairs to the Gilmore door, asked Greg.

"Uh, who else do I represent, or who else do I know?" Greg, his arm wrapped protectively around Rory, asked.

"Represent!"

"My firm, or just me?"

"Like, who could you get to come to my birthday party, if I wanted them to." Lorelai threw the door to the house open, and the other two followed her in.

"They're all really expensive."

"I know that," Lorelai said exasperatedly. "Who do you represent, closely, who know what's going on in your life?"

"Oh, that's easy. Bernadette DeRussy. She's the only one of my clients who even asks about me. The rest of them are too busy. You know, being famous."

"Right. Bernadette DeRussy…what's she been in?"

"She was Richard Gere's daughter-in-law in that movie last year." Rory spoke up.

"Oh, the short cute little blonde girl?"

Rory and Greg nodded.

"She's the sweetest thing! So she actually cares about people?"

"Yeah. She's really nice. She called me yesterday," Rory said, walking out of the kitchen and into her room. She returned after a second, sweater-less. "She wanted to congratulate me on getting engaged. She just raved about you," Rory said, smiling at Greg.

"She's great."

"We should invite her to the actual thing." Rory said excitedly, sitting in the chair at the kitchen next to Greg and across from Lorelai.

"I don't think so. If she goes, then at least one person from the press will leak it, and we'll get early publicity."

"You're her PR person! You could insist that she's out of the country."

"I'll try—I don't know if it'll work though."

"That you try is all I ask." Rory smiled. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Lorelai demanded, glancing between the two like she was watching a tennis match.

"Oh, just the surprise." Rory said flippantly, knowing that response would drive her mother crazier—if that was possible.

"Ooh, what surprise? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"Shall we?" Rory asked Greg.

"We shall," he nodded.

"Okay. See, Mom, because of our jobs, we've made and kept a lot of friendships with people in the entertainment industry."

"Famous people, right. Go on." Lorelai prodded.

"And I know more than a few of them who would want to come to our wedding—if only to bolster their reputation as a non-diva actor, actress, rock star, etc." Greg said.

"Get to the surprise, people!"

"Okay! We don't want to have a huge press laden wedding, but we don't want to turn away some of these people either." Rory said.

"So we've decided to have two weddings."

"Two?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded. "Two. One here, at the end of the summer, and one on our first anniversary, in a cathedral in the city."

"With a reception at my parent's place in the Hamptons."

"Omigod!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Yeah. So tomorrow Paris, Lane and Dave—"

"—and Steve, my brother, and my parents—"

"—are gonna be here, and they've all cleared their schedules so they can be here for the whole summer. We're gonna be spending the time planning both weddings."

"Only we're gonna put most of our energy into the actual ceremony, and focus more on the second wedding after the first one."

"Right. So we're gonna be here for three months."

"That's the surprise?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, that's the surprise. I thought you'd be more excited."

"Oh, believe me, I am. I'm thrilled to pieces. You just kind of made it seem bigger."

"Mom! I'm getting married here at the end of the summer!"

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what's wrong with me." Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "It's fabulous news, sweetie. I'm so happy for you." 

"Thank you," Rory smiled back, and they hugged. Then Lorelai hugged Greg.

"You are the best thing that ever happened to her, and that's saying a lot, cause I'm her mother."

"You're even better than I imagined," Greg complimented back.

"Oh, I'm gonna cry," Lorelai announced, pulling away from Greg and wiping her eyes.

"Don't!" Rory exclaimed.

"I won't." Lorelai grinned. "Ooh, it's getting late. About time for you to go, huh, Greg?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'm going upstairs for a minute, and when I get back down, I expect to see you ready to go to the Inn. Goodbyes before I get back, okay?"

"Okay, Mom!"

"Good." Lorelai made the 'I'm watching you' gesture Robert DeNiro used on Ben Stiller in _Meet The Parents_ and then headed upstairs.

Greg smiled at Rory and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him. 

"Alone at last."

"Do you have to go?"

"I don't want to sleep on the couch."

"You can sleep with me," Rory said.

"No, I can't. We promised we wouldn't have sex until we were married."

"I know," Rory sighed. "I just don't know if I can wait that long."

"Three months, sweetie, that's it."

"Okay. Maybe I can make it three months." Rory kissed Greg softly. "I can't wait to meet your parents."

"I want to meet your dad," Greg announced.

"Soon. We'll take a trip to visit him and Sherry and Georgia soon."

"When's soon?"

"When the big hand hits the 'S' and the little hand hits the 'oon.'" Rory said, using a phrase her mother had used long ago.

"Okay." Greg, satisfied with this answer, kissed Rory again. They were still kissing a minute later when Lorelai rushed downstairs, her hand practically bolted across her eyes.

"I'm here! All kissing unsuitable for children and mothers should cease and desist immediately!"

Greg and Rory parted.

"It's okay, you can look now," Rory said as she and Greg walked from the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs.

"Phew! Okay, come, perfect-future-son-in-law," Lorelai implored, leading Greg to the door. "I'll be back in twenty minutes. Try not to do anything stupid."

"Right back at ya, Mom."

"Silly. Okay, we're leaving!" Lorelai was standing at the door, ready to go, but Greg and Rory were staring at each other. "Now! You can call her as soon as you check in, okay?"

"Okay," Greg said reluctantly, tearing his eyes from Rory's. "Let's go."

"Bye!" Rory said.

Greg turned around. "Bye! I love you!"

"I love you too!" Rory called as Lorelai pulled Greg out by his shirtsleeve. She smiled, watching her fiancée and mother walk off, and then she turned and walked into her old room. Her suitcases were piled near the bed, and she lifted the most important one—the one with all her best clothes and personal hygiene products—onto her bed and began to unpack. 

After five minutes, she'd managed to stuff her clothes into her empty dresser drawers and half-empty closet. As she neared the bottom of the relatively small suitcase, she noticed a large brown envelope. She lifted it gingerly, and then pulled out three stacks of letters and a business-letter sized yellowing envelope. Placing the other pieces of paper to the side, she reverently lifted the second letter from the stack, this one dated late July, 2003. __

_Rory—_

_I'm writing again. Again, I don't know exactly why._

_I'm settling into life here with my dad, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's daughter (not his). The only thing that I really can't adjust to is the dogs—I don't like dogs, can't stand 'em, never have been able to. _

_I wonder sometimes, about that godforsaken hellhole known as Stars Hollow. No matter how much I hated it, it still crawls under your skin and stays there. So I'm wondering what job Kirk's doing this week, how many people Patty has sexually harassed today, how many cups of coffee you and Lorelai have stolen from Luke. _

_How do you get your minimum amount of coffee, now that I've gone? Have you managed to trick Caesar into giving you coffee? Have you gone without?_

_These are rhetorical questions, I suppose, since this letter isn't leaving the house, just like the last one._

_Are you getting ready for college? Are you and Lorelai crazily upping your movie nights to five times a week, as opposed to the normal three? Are you freaking out? Is Paris? (Okay, that's not so rhetorical—she obviously is) How many pro-con lists have you made?_

_The questions go on and on. I just wanted to get them down on paper, because I haven't seen you in two months, and I was used to seeing you every day for over two years. _

_You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Rory, I hope you know that. I didn't move out here because of anything you did—it has nothing to do with you._

_I haven't had the greatest chance to read as I've been out here, although I still always have a book shoved in my back pocket, as you have one shoved in your purse. _

_I did read the other day, though. The Fountainhead. Still can't get through it, though I'm still trying. You read more Hemingway, and I'll get through Ayn Rand, I swear._

_I miss our talks about books, I miss stealing books from you. I think I actually miss getting on Dean's nerves._

_Strange the things the mind singles out._

_Jess. _

Rory folded the letter and delicately placed it in the yellowing envelope next to the first one. He'd missed her. 

Strange the feelings the mind conjures up.


	4. Boyfriend Boxes 2

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter Four: Boyfriend Boxes 2 

Summary: (of this chapter) The Boyfriend Boxes talk about their newest news and wonder about the wonder of Rory.

Spoilers: Only for the last chapter, seeing as how the boxes all still think it's the year they were shelved. Oh, you want to know more about the boyfriend boxes? Certainly! In my Author's Note. 

Disclaimer: I own not Dean, he's from GG. I own not Jess, he's also from GG. I own not Noel, cause I made him like Noel from Felicity. I own not Paul, cause I know a Paul. I own not Todd, cause I know a Todd. Actually, I do own Noel and Paul and Todd, just not the names. Cool!

Distribution: E-mail is nice. Please tell me if you wish to convey my words to anyone else! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com (and you can't use it too much!)

A/N: Reviewers are cool.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Boyfriend Boxes: 

_Dean Forrester:_ Shelved November 2002. First boyfriend of Rory Gilmore. Main items in the box include cornstarch and the pretty dress from Rory's first dance.

_Jess Mariano_: Shelved May 2003. Second boyfriend of Rory. Lasted less than a year after over a year of obvious sexual attraction. Started out nice, ended up an ass. Main item in box: Howl by Allen Ginsberg with the notes in the margins.

_Noel Conners:_ Shelved Thanksgiving 2004. First college boyfriend of Rory. One year older than her. She started going out with him because Lorelai kept screaming, "Find your Noel! You have to find your first-season of _Felicity_ Noel!" every time Rory called her. Main item in box: Big half of wishbone from first Wednesday before Thanksgiving together, also known as their first date.

_Paul Keith:_ Shelved May 2006. Unshelved Jan. 2008, Reshelved late Jan. 2008. First huge heartbreak of Rory, causing her to spend an entire week crying in her mother's house. They went out for a year; he came back two years later, and then left because his girlfriend was pregnant. Struck a huge chord with Rory because of Christopher and Lorelai and Sherry. Main item in box: Dried roses from their sixth month anniversary.

_Todd Jenkins_: Shelved Nov. 2009. Two years older than her. He was a self-absorbed actor who was really nice when they were together but he spent too much time doing charity stuff overseas (like Leo, Grace's "husband" from _Will & Grace_) and not enough time talking to her. She spent a lot of time talking to his PR agent, Greg Adams, who she eventually left Todd for. Main item in box: invitation to the premiere of one of his movies: their second date of two. 

These truly are the Gilmores of our lives.

~~~~

Noel: Well. That was interesting news.

Jess: I guess we _can_ sacrifice her for a good harvest.

Paul: Or rain.

Jess: Good thing we're not in a drought.

Todd: He's still an asshole.

Dean: Why is he an asshole? He hasn't taken advantage of her, and he's honoring her wishes that she doesn't want to have sex till she's married.

Todd: I don't care. He's an asshole.

Paul: Just because he stole Rory from you cause you were a sucky boyfriend—

Todd: I was not!

Noel: Dude, you admitted that you only went on two dates with her, and you guys went out for seven months.

Todd: Okay, so I wasn't the _best_ boyfriend…. 

Jess: I was better. And I ended up being pretty crappy.

Noel: Oh, you really did.

Jess: Yeah, thanks Noel.

Dean: I think we should all just shut up about Greg. I think he's gonna be the one. He's lasted the longest.

Paul: Well, that's true.

Dean: Except for me, actually.

Jess: No, not except for you.

Noel: Yeah. If you actually count up all your times together, it's only about a year and a half.

Paul: And Greg and Rory have been together for….

Noel: Wait, I know this….

Jess: Nineteen months.

Dean: Yeah, great, a month over us.

Noel: Hey, he's the only one of us to give her a diamond.

Jess: And it's a hell of a diamond. You seen it?

Paul: Yeah, it's huge. 

Dean: Perfect for Rory.

Todd: Whatever, man, he's still a total ass.

Jess: I see nothing wrong with him, Todd. He even got all of Lorelai's stupid jokes.

Noel: That's where I struck out the most.

Paul: Yeah, I think she told me about that. 

Noel: Yeah, uh, Lorelai started quoting _Felicity_ and talking about _A.U.S.A. _and _Alias_ to me. 

Jess: Cause you're Noel, and you were a sophomore when Rory was a freshman, right?

Noel: That's what Rory told me later. She said that Lorelai was talking about Scott Foley, basically.

Jess: Cause Scott Foley was Noel, and he was married to Jennifer Garner of _Alias_. 

Paul: Dude, how do you know all that?

Jess: Oh, I spent over a year spending time with Rory before we went out. 

Dean: I hated you.

Jess: And I you, Dean. And I you.

Dean: Why'd you hate me?

Jess: I guess I didn't hate all of you. Your Frankenstein scowl is really powerful and…non-scary.

Paul: Again, guys, we're not talking about us, we're talking about Greg. 

Noel: Rory's fiancée.

Todd: He's an asshole.

Dean: We know! God, shut up about it, okay?

Todd: Whatever, he's still an asshole.

Paul: I think he sounds like a great guy. I think it's gonna work out.

Noel: If only Rory would not read the letters that Jess sent her.

Jess: Yeah, I don't know what I'm thinking. I should be kicked in the head.

Dean: I'll help you with that.

Jess: No, thanks.

Noel: I think Rory's getting cold feet.

Paul: It happens to the best of us.

Noel: You ever had cold feet?

Paul: No, but I figure it happens to the best of us.

Dean: That's wise advice.

Jess: It's not exactly advice, Dean.

Noel: Hey! Who here thinks we should throw the teenagers to the back of the closet?

Paul: I think we should give them another chance, and maybe separate them.

Noel: Separating them sounds like a good idea.

Todd: Greg's an asshole. 


	5. Purple Hair

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter Five: Purple Hair

Summary: (of this chapter) Rory talks to her mother about her Jess letters, and Lorelai convinces Rory her feelings are just cold feet. Another long forgotten flame shows up.

Spoilers: Not this chapter, but definitely in chapter seven. 

Disclaimer: Yes, I do not own the GG characters. I wish I did. That'd be cool. Because then I could make sure that only Amy Sherman-Palladino wrote the episodes, and that her husband only directed the episodes, cause the best ones are the ones where Daniel directs and Amy writes. Amy writes cool. I like Amy. I wish I knew Amy. She's so cool. 

Distribution: If my words move you so deeply you wish to share them with someone else, tell me first please! sami57peace2u@hotmail.com It's okay with me, I just want to be credited and asked first. Thanks so much!

A/N: Okay, so Kenny Loggins performed Footloose, not Kenny Chesney. I actually knew that, believe it or not. I knew it was a Kenny, I just forgot which one. But hey, at least I knew it was Chris Penn, and not Sean! One point for me!

~~~~

 "Hey, babe, I'm home!" Lorelai called as she walked into the house later. "God, that's so cool to say that again! I love having you home, by the way." Lorelai walked into the living room and noticed Rory sitting on the couch, staring straight ahead with an unseeing gaze. "You okay?"

"I'm having second thoughts," Rory whispered as Lorelai sat next to her on the couch.

"About what? The whole two weddings thing? Cause that sounds a little too stressful to me."

"No, about the whole wedding thing. I'm thinking of calling off the wedding."

"Oh, sweetie, why would you want to do that?"

Rory took a deep breath. "You remember the letters I got from Jess yesterday, when we were on the phone?"

"Yeah. Yes, I remember the letters from delinquent second-boyfriend boy."

"Yeah, well, they're really good letters."

"Mmm. How good? Dirty good?"

"Mom!"

"Sorry. What's so good about them?"

"They make me remember why I liked him so much in the first place."

"Oh, did he use his words on you again? I tell you, that boy."

"Well, it makes me want to call off this stupid wedding to stupid, boring old Greg and run out to good old Venice Beach, California and see Jess again."

"Greg's not stupid. Or boring. I think Greg's the best boyfriend you've ever had."

"Even better than Dean?"

"Oh, yeah, much better than Dean. And much more up on his pop culture references."

"You mean yours."

"Yeah, my pop culture references. Let me see these letters, I'll tell you whether or not you're actually really thinking about running off to California."

"I am. I'm telling you, I really am."

"Let me see the letters."

Rory sighed and stood up from the couch. Lorelai stayed where she was, thinking. What if the letters really were as good as Rory thought?

"Here they are," Rory thrust the stacks of paper in her mother's direction. "And here are the two I've read."

"You've only read two?"

"They were really good," Rory protested, falling onto the couch.

"Whatever you say." Lorelai opened the old envelope and pulled out the two letters Rory had read. She started reading them aloud. 

"'Rory—' Oh, that's a good way to start," Lorelai interrupted herself. "Full of love." She continued reading silently, only voicing a few select phrases. "'I'm gone.' Yes, that is clichéd. And yes, 'this is a crappy letter.'" Lorelai looked at her daughter. "You wanna leave Greg for this?"

Rory shrugged, keeping her eyes closed.

"Okay." Lorelai continued reading. "'Don't cry. I won't if you don't.' Jess was going to cry? Weird." Lorelai read the very last phrase of the letter. "'Be you. Jess.' Huh. That actually is kind of sweet. But not sweet enough to give up Greg."

"Read the—read the next one," Rory prodded.

Lorelai obliged, placing the first letter back in the envelope. She read the second letter silently.

"Sweetie, I hate to tell you this," Lorelai started quietly after she'd finished the letter. "But you're seriously delusional. He misses getting on Dean's nerves. I don't care if the mind singles out strange things—that's just damn strange. I think he's got some Danes in him, definitely."

"I'm not delusional, I love Jess!" Rory sat up and defended herself.

"No, you don't. You loved him. Past tense. You don't love him like that anymore. You think you do, and you only think you do because you're not entirely sure you want to commit yet. And yeah, the fact that you received these letters the day after you got engaged is a huge coincidence, but that's all it is. A coincidence. You don't want to go to California, I assure you. And I bet if you read some of the letters that are a little more recent than eight years ago, he'd probably say somewhere down the line that he'd gotten over you, and you were just a friend."

"You think?"

"I know. You love Greg and he loves you. I can see it in the way you talk and look at each other."

"Really?"

"Yes. You guys are made to last."

"Thank you," Rory said, throwing her arms around her mother. 

"It was nothing. Just a mom thing."

"It was just what I needed."

The phone started ringing.

"Hey, I bet that's Prince Charming himself."

"I'll get it!" Rory jumped from the couch and headed to the phone. "Hello? Hey, honey," Rory gestured to Lorelai and headed for her room. 

Lorelai smiled. It was great to see Rory so in love with someone. The only thing that dampened Lorelai's enthusiasm was the fact that she herself was not with somebody. Lorelai sighed and found her gaze drifting to the letters sitting on the coffee table. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she searched through the bottom stack and came up with the most recent letter, dated April 25, 2011.__

_Rory-_

_Once again I'm writing to you. You've become my soundboard over the last eight years, even though we've had no contact. Somehow just writing these letters helps me think clearly._

_I ran into Bernadette DeRussy yesterday. She came by the store, and we got to talking. Somehow we found out that we both knew you, and she mentioned something about how your boyfriend was planning to propose._

_So let me congratulate you._

_Congratulations. _

_I think that's wonderful. Bernadette had nothing but fabulous things to say about Greg, so I'm sure he's good for you, because I trust Bern's judgment. _

_This new news, of course, somehow prompted me to rethink my relationship with Kristen. So I have decided to make an honest woman out of the mother of my son._

_As you know, she's been living with me for three years, and for the past two years we've been joined by little Adam. I bought a ring this morning, and it's modest, but I hope it gets the point across._

_Somehow, just knowing that you have the prospect of being married, it prompts me into thinking that marriage isn't so bad, and it doesn't all end in divorce. _

_I don't know how you did that, but you did._

_Thanks. I thank you, Adam thanks you, and hopefully Kristen does, too._

_You know, I think I might actually send this letter._

_Jess._

Lorelai lowered the letter. Huh. Jess had a two-year-old son, and he was getting engaged. Boy, sometimes people do change.

~~~~

"Lane's coming today," Rory said excitedly to her mother as Lorelai shuffled into the kitchen the next morning.

"You're too cheery," Lorelai complained, pouring herself a cup of coffee and sticking a Pop-Tart in the toaster. "But thank you for the coffee."

"You're welcome," Rory, sitting at the table, fully dressed, was reading a newspaper.

"Hey, Readily Reading Rory—where'd you get the paper?"

"I bought it from Bootsy."

"You've already been outside? Are you crazy?"

"No. Caffeineated."

"Ah. The secret to life. So what's going on in the world today?" Lorelai asked, sitting at the table.

"Lane's coming!" Rory squealed, closing the paper.

"Oh, is that all? That I knew." Lorelai stood back up to get her Pop-Tart, and Rory shot up from her seat.

"I'm going to the Inn." She announced, grabbing her purse.

"Okay. Say hi to Greg for me."

"Can do," Rory grinned and left the house. Lorelai sat at the table and wondered at the silence. Somehow she'd gotten used to having someone in the house in the last sixteen hours. Strange.

~~~~

Greg and Rory were walking through the town of Stars Hollow, arms wrapped around each other, later that morning.

"God, it's a pretty day, isn't it?" Rory asked as the couple walked past Miss Patty's on their way to Luke's.

"And a great town," Greg commented. 

"I'm glad you like it. I can't believe I'm going to get married here."

"It's a great place to get married."

"Now, I have a few things to tell you." Rory started, but she was interrupted by Babette running up to them.

"Rory! Doll! You're back!" 

"Hi, Babette," Rory struggled to say as the older woman squeezed the life out of her.

"You're such a famous big town girl, we weren't sure if you were coming back. And then we heard not only were you back, you were _engaged_! Morey and I were thrilled when we heard the news. Congratulations, doll."

"Thanks."

"Is this him?" Babette stage-whispered, pointing to Greg.

"Yeah," Rory stage-whispered back.

"Welcome to Stars Hollow!" Babette hugged Greg too, while Rory stood by and laughed. "Now you better be good to Miss Rory over here. Because if you hurt her, we'll all come after you and break your neck. Okay?"

"Okay," Greg said.

"Good." Babette gave Greg one last squeeze and then left, winking at Rory as she walked by. 

"Isn't this town great?" Rory asked, latching on to Greg's arm as they continued walking.

"Just wonderful. Hey, before the crazy blonde tried to kill me by squeezing me to death, you said you had a few things to tell me."

"Oh, yeah. Okay, well, I like this town. A lot. And I'm thrilled that I'm getting married here."

"Well, the whole idea behind the wedding thing is to make sure you're thrilled."

"Yeah. So I love the town, and the people in the town, and the people in the town love me."

"Obviously."

"So if we got married here, I'd probably want this people to come to the wedding. Because I grew up with these people."

"'Probably'?"

"Okay, so I want to definitely get married with Babette and Patty gossiping in the back row. I think that'd be great."

"Well, if you think it's great, I think it's great."

"Really?"

"Of course." Greg smiled.

"Great." Rory smiled back and they continued walking.

~~~~

"Turn here," Lane said, pulling Dave's sleeve and pointing. "Turn, turn, turn!"

"Lane, calm down! I've been to Stars Hollow before, I know where we're going."

"Sorry," Lane said sheepishly, settling back into her seat.

"It's okay," Dave said. "We're here," he proclaimed, pulling up to Luke's. 

"She's there!" Lane said happily, spotting Rory through the window. She unbuckled her seatbelt and flew from the car even before Dave had turned it off.

"Lane!" he called through the open door. She just waved and continued running into the diner. Dave sighed, got out of the car, closed Lane's door, and followed her.

"Rory!" Lane yelled, stopping just inside the door to Luke's.

"Lane!" Rory screamed from the counter. She jumped off her stool and ran to her best friend, throwing her arms around her.

"Dave," Greg nodded to the man standing not too far behind Lane. 

"Greg," Dave nodded back. 

"You're here you're here!" Rory yelled, jumping up and down with Lane.

"I'm here I'm here!" Lane responded.

"They're here they're here!" Greg and Dave mocked, jumping up and down next to the girls. Both girls stopped and hit their significant others, as the boys laughed.

"Okay, fine, we were being silly," Rory said, settling back into her seat at the counter. Lane sat next to her. 

"Let's ignore them now."

"Good idea," Rory smiled. "I love your hair," Rory fingered a loose strand of Lane's purple hair.

"Thanks," Lane said, pulling the loose strand back into her messy ponytail. "We just got interviewed by _Rolling Stone_."

"Ooh, cool! When's it coming out?"

"Next month, I think."

"Send me a copy?"

"Always. Although, won't we be here?"

"Oh, yeah, you will. Okay, so give me a copy."

"Can do."

"Where's Lorelai?" Dave asked, desperately trying to edge back into the conversation.

"At work," Rory said dismissively.

"You met Lorelai yet?" Dave asked Greg.

"Yeah," Greg nodded.

"And she loved him!" Rory said happily, turning from Lane to place a hand on Greg's arm.

"You get all of her pop-culture references?" Dave asked.

"I bet she had some from _Meet The Parents_ and _Dharma and Greg, just judging from your name." Lane speculated._

"Yeah, exactly," Greg nodded.

"And he nailed them!" Rory said happily.

"Welcome to the family," Lane threw an arm around Greg's shoulder. 

"You're in the family?" 

"Honorary member since 1992," Rory answered Greg's question. 

"Okay, then. So Dave's part of the family too?" 

"I'm an adopted member."

"Since 2007." Lane said proudly, extracting her arm from Greg's shoulder and draping it around her husband's, planting a kiss squarely on his cheek.

"Aww," Rory said. 

"No PDAs," Luke instructed, walking over with three empty cups and a coffee pot. "Coffee?"

"Luke, you're too strict!" Rory exclaimed. Luke gave her a glare and she meekly extended her empty cup. "Please."

"Sure," Luke refilled her cup and then filled two cups for Lane and Dave. Greg accepted a smaller cup of coffee, Luke shot him a look of approval, and then he walked off.

"Gruff guy, isn't he?" Greg asked.

"Oh, yeah." Dave agreed.

"None gruffer," Lane said.

"Are we going to surprise Lorelai at work?" Dave asked. 

"Sure. And you've got to check in, anyway." Rory pointed out.

"Don't worry, sweetie, you can call Zach tonight and tell him that you saw the love of his life."

"Zach's still stuck on Mom?" Rory asked.

"Oh, totally. He wanted to come with us."

"Oh, but Brian did too." Dave pointed out.

"Yeah, he did. You know, you'd think that we hadn't spent the last eight years together, day in, day out."

"At least you got breaks every once in a while, after you guys made the records." Rory said.

"Yes, but we spent them with each other." Lane said.

"Except the one where we got married." Dave kissed Lane's cheek.

"Yeah, that one was just you and me. Although Zach and Brian were our witnesses."

"Along with Elvis," Greg reminded.

"Oh, yeah. You know, we should dig up those pictures. I mean, I brought all of our wedding stuff, both weddings, for us to plan with." Lane said to Rory.

"Oh, good, you did!"

"Yeah. Oh, Dave, VH1 called."

"What about now?"

"Uh, they're planning a wedding special for June. You know, rockers that get married and crap."

"Ah, and you figured that showing them our legal ceremony along with our religious ceremony would be good."

"Actually, I thought we could just go for the Elvis ceremony."

"Sure," Dave smiled.

"That's so cool!" Rory exclaimed. "You have VH1 calling you and wanting to use your wedding pictures!"

"And millions of loyal fans the world over."

"Oh, that," Rory waved her hand dismissively, and she and Lane laughed.

"Oh, that," Dave said, in a perfect imitation of Rory's voice. He waved his hand, exaggerating the move Rory had just made, and he and Greg laughed. Both girls hit the boys once again.

"You know what, Lane? I think we should leave these boys here, and go visit Mom alone."

"I think that's a wonderful idea. And maybe later I can spend the night at yours and Lorelai's house, and let the boys stay in the Inn all by themselves. Especially a certain guitar player."

"No! I'll stop, I swear!" Dave said. The girls ignored them, and walked out of the diner. The boys looked at each other and bolted from their chairs at exactly the same time.

~~~~

"And make sure room 18 has enough towels, they were complaining last night," Lorelai directed a maid, who nodded and left. Lorelai walked to the front desk and greeted the clerk. "Afternoon, Clara. How's the first week coming?"

"Good so far. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Miss Gilmore."

"Nonsense, it's the least I could do. After all, I've been in your situation before."

"Right, with Rory." 

"Yeah, my only daughter. And please, call me Lorelai."

"Lorelai," Clara nodded.  "I can do that."

"Great. Ooh, and if the Rygalskis call or come in, can you come get me? I'm expecting them."

"Sure, Lorelai."

"Thanks so much!" Lorelai smiled and walked into the kitchen. The ever-present Sookie was running around, no doubt preparing a fabulously fabulous dinner to blow the guests away. Seven-year-old Annette was trailing after her mother, and, like Sookie, was clumsily tripping over her own feet. "Hey, Nettie!" 

"Don't call me that!" The seven-year-old made a face and then ran into Lorelai's arms and gave her a hug. "Aunt Lori!"

"You're the only person who can call me that."

"You're the only person who can call me Nettie," Annette shot back, and the girls laughed. 

"You got any coffee?" Lorelai asked, straightening up.

"Just made a fresh pot, sweetie. How was your morning?" Sookie asked. 

"Good. It was pretty cool waking up to coffee again."

"Like having Rory home?"

"Love it," Lorelai smiled.

"And how was your trip into Hartford?"

"I'm convinced that they are ripping us off on towels."

"Well, I guess that's how they get their money."

"By ripping people off on towels?"

"Uh…yeah?"

Lorelai laughed. "Yes, I guess that is how Martha Stewart gets the big bucks."

"Ooh! Tell me about the fiancée!" Sookie, suddenly remembering Greg, sat down at the kitchen table across from Lorelai.

"Okay, well, he got my references." 

"Score three points for Greg."

"Exactly. And he and Rory didn't make out extensively in front of me."

"Score two for both of them."

"And he's really sweet to her, and he spent the night here, instead of home."

"He sounds perfect."

"Oh, he's definitely not."

"What's wrong with him?" Annette asked from behind her mother, a cookie in her mouth.

"He thinks 'Footloose' is the best song from the movie."

"The sacrilege!" Sookie mock-gasped.

"Yeah, that's bad. Cookie?" Annette held a cookie out to Lorelai, who hesitated before taking it.

"Who cooked it?"

Annette rolled her eyes. "Mom."

"Phew." Lorelai sighed. "I'd love one, in that case."

"Stop making fun of me!" Annette stamped her foot and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Oh, sweetie, we're not making fun of you, we're making fun of your cooking skills," Lorelai said soothingly.

"Yes, which you obviously got from Jackson."

"But you got your zeal for cooking—along with your clumsiness—from your mother."

"Ah, thanks, sweetie."

"No prob," Lorelai said, sliding her chair back from the table. "Well, the duties of an executive manager-slash-part owner of an inn never diminish."

"Okay, see you later, Lorelai." Sookie said, also getting up and heading back to her cooking.

"Bye, Aunt Lori," Annette said.

"Bye, Nettie," Lorelai called back, walking out of the kitchen. Making sure Clara was okay at the front desk, Lorelai walked upstairs, checking out all the rooms.

Meanwhile, four twenty-somethings walked into the Inn, and up to the brunette behind the desk. 

"Hey, Clara," Rory said. "Lane and Dave need a room."

"Okay, just a sec," Clara said, typing something into the computer. She looked up and noticed Lane and Dave. "Cool hair!"

"Thanks. Can we have a room?"

"Oh, yeah, just let me check really quick." Clara typed some more stuff into the computer, and the four looked around the inn anxiously. 

"Hey, I have to go to the bathroom," Dave said suddenly. "I've been driving non-stop for four hours."

"That's not that bad," said Greg, "but I'll show you to the bathroom anyway." 

The boys walked away, leaving the two girls to look around for themselves. As Lane was watching the front door, a tall blonde girl on the arm of a taller brunette guy walked in, and Lane elbowed Rory.

"Is that who I think it is?" she whispered fiercely. Rory looked at the couple and then suddenly realized why they looked so familiar.

"Oh, my God," she whispered.


	6. Boyfriend Boxes 3

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter Six: Boyfriend Boxes 3

Summary: More complaining about Greg; a half-full wedding box shows up and everyone freaks out. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Spoilers: Yes. It turns out that the boyfriend boxes shall be coming to life in future episodes, and the Dean and Jess box shall duke it out while Rory waltzes off to college, unknowingly.

Disclaimer: They're not mine. And the spoiler's not true. If you thought it was…well, you need to visit Bellevue and stay there. If you don't know where Bellevue is…go there anyway.

Distribution: You know by now that I don't mind, I just want to be emailed. Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com

A/N: I am so cruel! And this isn't even the chapter where you find out who the blonde and brunette are! I'm evil!

Oh, and I plotted out the storyline—either I have a penchant for the dramatic, or I've been watching too many soap operas, or I've become too addicted to "Soap" (this great sitcom from the 70s that made fun of soap operas and had one of America's first openly gay characters—played by Billy Crystal, who does it wonderfully). Anyway, the outline—_just the outline_—is a page a half long. So this story's going on for a while. And, (and I'm very proud of this) this is the first time I've ever known what was going to happen! I'm so thrilled.

~~~~

Todd: Greg's an asshole.

Paul: Dude! Cut it out!  
  


Jess: Yeah, seriously.

Dean: It's getting really annoying.

Todd: God, sorry. It's not my fault he's an asshole.

Jess: Come on!  
  


Todd: Sorry.

Noel: Guys, shush!

Paul: Dude, don't tell me to shush. Who do you think you are?  
  


Dean: Yeah. You can't tell any of us to shush.

Noel: Guys! Shut up!

Dean: Why?

Jess: Dean, just do what he says. 

Dean: Why the hell—

Paul: Just do it.

Dean: Whatever.

Jess: Yeah, good job shutting up.

Dean: Thanks.

Todd: Hey! High school boys. Shut up. Noel's got something to say.

Dean: Sorry.

Jess: Go ahead, Noel.

Noel: Okay. You guys see that box over there?

Dean: Yeah.

Noel: It's new. And I'm pretty sure it's got wedding stuff in it.

Paul: Whoa.

Jess: Whaddya mean, wedding stuff?

Noel: Like, a guest list, kinds of flowers, a menu, a wedding dress sketch.

Paul: They're moving awfully fast. They just got here yesterday.

Noel: I know! That's what's so…not right about it.

Jess: Not right? As in wrong?

Noel: Yeah, I guess. How are they already so far along?

Todd: Cause Greg's an asshole, that's how. And he wants to get married to Rory before she finds out what an asshole he is. 

Noel: You know, that could be true.

Paul: Oh, yeah. That sounds plausible.

Todd: You guys don't have to mock me.

Noel: No, I'm not!

Paul: Oh, me neither…. Okay, I was mocking you. But I guess that could be possible.

Dean: I don't think so.

Noel: You're in high school. Shut the hell up.

Dean: Sorry.

Noel: Don't say it like that, you sound like a jerk.

Dean: Sorry.

Jess: Dean, shut up.

Dean: No, Jess. I don't have to do anything you tell me to.

Jess: "To do." Anything I tell you "to do." Don't end a sentence with a preposition.

Paul: Yeah, dude, that's just so wrong.

Noel: God, Paul, stop mocking everything.

Paul: Yeah, fine. I'll just tape myself shut.

Todd: Would you? Cause that would be great.

Paul: Oh, you need to do it too, because we already know that Greg's an asshole. You tell us all the time! Let it go already!!

Todd: But it's true, he is a—

Noel: Don't say it!

Todd: Yeah, uh-huh, you thought I was gonna say as—

Paul: Todd!

Todd: Okay, I'll stop. I won't say that Greg's an asshole.

Paul: Dammit Todd!

Todd: Ha ha, I snuck one by ya!

Jess: I don't think that box is for Rory and Greg.

Noel: Oh? And what makes you say that?

Jess: Because there's a picture in there of Lane and Dave standing next to Elvis in a chapel.

Noel: What?

Dean: So it's Lane and Dave's? 

Jess: Looks like it.

Dean: Well, then, it's not Rory's! That's good, right?

Paul: It could be worse. It could mean that she's really serious, and she wants to have a wedding just like Lane's, cause Lane and Dave are still together after four years and still in love.

Todd: God, Lorelai babbles a lot.

Paul: You know, she really does.

Noel: Whatever. Still, it's a wedding box. That means she's getting serious.

Dean: I think we already knew she was serious when she showed up, all ready to plan a wedding.

Jess: No, cause she was reading my letters and got cold feet.

Paul: It's too early to get cold feet. Cold feet this early means that she's gonna run.

Dean: Not a Gilmore girl. Cold feet this early to them means that they'll be completely dedicated the rest of the way. Cold feet the week before the wedding means it's over. Otherwise, they're committed for life. 

Noel: How do you know? When has a Gilmore girl ever been dedicated for life? 

Dean: It happened to Emily. She almost ran right before they got engaged, but she stayed, and she and Richard have been together for a real long time.

Todd: Sister?

Dean: Grandmother.

Todd: Oh. Man, I'm out of it. 

Jess: Yeah, we figured that when Rory dumped you for your PR guy.

Todd: He's an asshole.

Noel: Todd!

Paul: Shut the hell up!

Dean: Please!

Jess: Oh, good, ever polite Frankenstein.

Dean: Did you call me Frankenstein?

Jess: Cause of the scowl.

Dean: Oh. Okay. 


	7. The Cusack Game

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 7: The Cusack Game

Summary: Rory stresses over _yet another ex-flame; Luke confesses something to Lorelai; Paris, still work obsessed, shows up, along with Greg's parents and brother. _

Spoilers: Oh, my goodness, the biggest one in the world! It involves the brunette guy, and the blonde girl, and their marital status. It's so huge! And stupid! Only this guy could be that stupid!!!

You've been forewarned.

Disclaimer: (sung to the tune of "I'm stuck on Band-Aid Brand)I own everything, and everything owns me! (sorry 'bout that. Too much caffeine.)

Distribution: I LOVE E-MAIL!!! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com 

And peace to you too!

A/N: I'm cruel, hee hee. But if I were really cruel, I wouldn't start out this chapter with the last one, but I am. So this chapter starts at the Inn, and Rory has just spotted the ex-boyfriend. Go!

Oh, and a few little notes. If you really desperately want to know the final pairing, please e-mail me and I will tell you. And if you really need the boyfriend boxes explained, you can e-mail me. I'll try to explain a little more at the beginning of the next chapter, though. 

Okay, Go again!

~~~~

"Oh, my God!" Rory whispered again, still staring at the couple. Lane noticed that the guy's eyes were starting to roam around the room, so she pulled Rory behind the front desk, and they squatted next to Clara.

"Oh, sorry," Lane apologized as she bumped into the girl. Clara looked down at Rory and Lane weirdly.

"Uh, you still want your room?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'm still working on it."

"Good."

Clara shot them another weird look and then turned back to the computer. Lane looked for Rory and found her almost all the way on the floor, peeking out from behind the desk at the couple that had just walked in.

"Oh, my God," she whispered again. Lane pulled the back of her shirt—hard—and Rory came sprawling back behind the desk.

"So that's him?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"And that's her, right?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"God, they're still together? How random is that?"

"You and Dave have been together the same amount of time."

"But we haven't been married the whole time. And we had our share of obstacles."

"Oh, right." 

"So they're still together."

"Yes, yes, it's weird. What the hell's he doing here?"

"I think we're about to get our answer." Lane pointed. The couple had spotted Clara and were walking over.

"Shhh!" Rory hissed, and she and Lane tried to make themselves smaller.

"Just a minute," Clara held up one finger as she heard someone walk up to her. She kept her eye on the computer screen—it was practically impossible to figure out.

"I need a room," the guy said. Clara's eyes lit up and she looked up.

"Dean!" She squealed, ran around the counter and threw her arms around her older brother. Dean laughed.

"Hey, Clara. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great! How have you been? I mean, other than too busy to talk to either your parents or your favorite little sister."

"Sorry. I was fixing something." Dean slid his arm around the waist of the blonde girl next to him, who looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"Lindsay!" Clara squealed and hugged her sister-in-law. "You're back!"

"I'm back!"

"My stupid brother made up with you, that is so thrilling," Clara said, extracting herself from Lindsay and smiling at the couple. 

"Okay, apparently they haven't been together this whole time," Lane whispered to Rory behind the desk.

"Dean's the kind of person to do that. She probably didn't tell him that she loved him."

"Well, whatever. I need to stretch."

"Me, too. Maybe we should try to crawl to the kitchen."

"Or at least your mom's office."

"Oh, my mom's office, that's a good idea."

"So we're crawling?"

"We're crawling. But wait till Lindsay stops staring over here."

"I bet you wish you didn't still owe her for that Mark Twain magnet."

"That was fourth grade."

"And she was such a classy fourth-grader."

"Stop quoting me from my moments of insanity, it's not fair."

"Oh, fine. Oh, they're not looking! Crawl!" Lane crawled on her hands and knees as fast as she could from under the desk. Rory followed her. 

"Whew, that was close," Rory said, stretching as she closed the door to Lorelai's office. 

"How weird is that? You come back to Stars Hollow to plan your wedding and you run into your first boyfriend. And he's just gotten back together with his wife!"

"Yeah, it's weird. It's very weird. You know what else is weird?"  
  


"What?" 

Rory looked around and, seeing that there was no one else in Lorelai's tiny little office, said, "I got a letter from Jess two days ago."

"Mariano?"

"My mother said the same thing, and yes, Jess Mariano."

"That _is_ weird. Two ex-boyfriends for the price of one fiancée."

"What does that mean?"

Lane shrugged. "I dunno, but it sounds cool, doesn't it? I should write that down. Hand me a pen." 

Rory obliged, stealing a pen from a cup on her mother's desk. 

"Thanks." Lane started writing on the back of her left hand. "'Two boyfriends for the price of one fiancée.' Actually, it sounds better as 'two boyfriends for the price of one,' doesn't it? Okay." Lane licked the back of her thumb and rubbed the spot on her hand where she'd written fiancée. After she'd sufficiently wiped the word off, she nodded and handed the pen back to Rory, who dropped it back in the cup.

"You always write on your hand?"

"Only when inspiration strikes."

"Ah. How many songs have you written now?"

"Lyrics only: Four. Music only: none. Music and Lyrics: one. Joint songs: two with Brian, four with Zach, and about a thousand with Dave. Although not really. I just tell him when his ideas about a song suck."

"That counts."

"Good. Speaking of Dave, I wonder where he and Greg are?"

"Maybe they got lost. Let's go find them." 

"Wait! What about him?" Lane asked, pointing to Dean. Rory waved a hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter. I can face him _and_ his stupid wife. I just couldn't face them when I was crawling on the floor."

"Oh. Well then, let's go."

"After you," Rory said, holding the door of Lorelai's office open for Lane. Lane nodded her thanks and walked out of the room and past the front desk, holding her head up and ignoring the three adults standing there. Rory followed her, her head up also, just not quite so high.

~~~~HowHHoHasdfm 

"Hi," Lorelai said in a normal volume, calmly setting her purse on the counter and sitting on a stool in Luke's. Luke stopped wiping down the counter and looked at her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Can I have some water?"

"What the hell? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling fine, thank you very much for your concern."

"Okay, you're now officially scaring me. Why are you acting so normal?"

"Why, Luke, I'm appalled that you're appalled that I'm acting normal."

"That's a little better. You're headed in the correct, crazy direction."

"Can I just have some water, please?" Lorelai asked slightly desperately, trying as hard as she could not to break character.

"Okay." Luke walked away from her to get water but turned back immediately. "Are you sure you don't want coffee mixed in with the water, only not so much water, lots of coffee?"

"No, just the water will do, thanks. And maybe a small salad."

"I'm calling Rory." Luke said, picking up the phone and starting to dial.

"No, you idiot! I mean," Lorelai tried to correct herself, blushing slightly. "That won't be necessary."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? Because really, Lorelai, you're scarily normal, and for you that's…not normal."

"What do you mean? It's perfectly normal."

"No, it's really not."

"Okay, fine!" Lorelai yelled, sagging a little. "You caught me!"

"A-ha! Whaddya want?" Luke leaned onto the counter and looked into Lorelai's eyes.

"I…learned some very interesting information yesterday, and I was wondering…." Lorelai trailed off.

"Wondering what?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"Well, I guess I was really wondering if it was true."

"If _what_ was true?"

"The thing I found out."

"What did you find out?"

Lorelai sighed again. "It's about—" Lorelai cut herself off, looked around, and then leaned into Luke and whispered, "Jess."

"Oh? What about _Jess_?" Luke asked, stressing the last word and making it louder. "Jess my nephew?"

"Shhh! I thought I heard somewhere that he…had a kid."

"Don't say that so loudly!" Luke hissed, grabbing Lorelai's arm across the counter and leading her past the counter and then upstairs. As he slammed the door to his apartment behind them, he crossed his arms and looked at Lorelai. "How do you know about Adam?"

"Adam? It has a name?"

"Yes! Jess' son is Adam Mariano, and he's two. His mother is Kristen…something, but Jess proposed the other day and so they're gonna get married soon. Adam's a great kid, too."

"Oh, really? The self-proclaimed kid hater is admitting that his two-year-old grandnephew is great. Why don't you just say cute and get it over with?"

"Because I don't say words like cute. I say words like great, and besides, Adam _is_ great. And being a great-uncle's just like being a grandfather."

"Oh, my God! So, you're like a grandfather now?"

"Shut up, Lorelai. Rory's old enough for you to be a grandmother."

"Thank God I'm not. I'm not even forty yet!"

"Yes, you are."

"Dammit! How'd you know?"

"It's called math, Lorelai."

"Yeah, well, how'd you figure it out?"

"You were sixteen when you had Rory, and Rory's…twenty-something. So obviously you're at least forty."

"Stupid smart people."

"Yeah. You want your coffee now?"

"Oh, yes please!" 

Luke nodded and led Lorelai down the stairs, who started singing "The Coffee Song" by Frank Sinatra halfway down.

~~~~

Later that afternoon, around five, Rory, Greg, Lane, and Dave were sitting around a table near the back of Luke's. Luke had kicked Lorelai out over three hours ago, for singing about coffee way too loudly, and she was now stamping up and down in front of the diner screaming the words to "The Coffee Song" at the top of her lungs. The four adults would burst out laughing every once in a while, causing varied patrons to look at them in varying ways. 

Dave was singing the band's newest song and Lane was tapping along as the door to the diner opened once again.

"They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil!" Lorelai screamed as the door swung slowly shut. Luke muttered something about how lucky he was to have the bells on the door.

"God, this town is even more hick-worthy than it was the last time I was here," the newest patron muttered, soliciting glares from the few loyal townies scattered around. Rory, however, sprang from her seat.

"Paris!" she yelled, running up to the girl and throwing her arms around her neck. "You came!"

"Of course I came, Gilmore, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Congratulations." 

"Thanks. Come on," Rory led Paris to the table and pulled up a chair. "Sit."

Paris obliged. "You I know," she said, pointing to Lane, and then Dave. "And you I know, but you I don't. Greg?" Paris extended her head toward the man, who took it.

"Greg Adams."

"Right. Rory's fiancée, the whole reason we're all here."

"Actually, Rory's the whole reason we're all here, I'm just the reason she's here." Greg said.

"Actually, the town's the reason I'm here, you're just the reason I'm getting married." Rory said, smiling at Greg.

Paris nodded. "Good points."

"Oh, she said 'good points'," Dave groaned. You gonna make us debate each other?" 

"Depends. What about?"

"Uh, I don't know, the effect of rock music on the culture of the U.S?"

"Oh, that's a good one. Maybe later."

"Oh, good, later."

"Are you supposed to interview me?" Paris asked Rory, ignoring Dave who was groaning into Lane's shoulder about debates.

"Uh-huh, at some point."

"But not right now, cause she needs to rest," Greg said pointedly.

"Too much stress, huh?" Paris asked. Rory nodded, and Paris snorted. "You try looking for a cure for cancer, and then tell me you have too much stress."

"That's so cool. You're looking for a cure for cancer!" Lane said.

"Someone's got to." Paris shrugged.

"So why'd you get nominated for a Nobel Prize?" Dave asked.

"I switched a couple of things around in the formula for chemotherapy and came up with a form that doesn't give you nausea and doesn't cause your hair to fall out."

"Wow," Lane said appreciatively.

"No, wait, stop talking!" Rory suddenly yelled.

"What?" Dave asked. Rory just shook her head and continued digging in her purse. Finally she emerged with a small tape recorder. She smiled and pressed record.

"Okay, repeat that." 

"No, don't." Greg said. He turned off the tape recorder and stuck it back in Rory's purse. She pouted. "Sweetie, I'm sorry, but you need to relax."

"You are so mean!"

"Relax, sweetie. After we've been here for a week, then you can interview Paris."

"Okay." Rory continued pouting. "But everyone has to remember what they said! I want to get this whole conversation on tape."

"Sure," everyone said. Rory, satisfied, nodded.

"Good."

The door to the diner swung open once again and Lorelai could be heard in the background.

"Luke! Lukey! Lucas Danes! Luke 'I'm a Trekkie' Danes! I need coffee!"

"No!" Luke yelled back.

Lorelai fell to her knees. "Luuuucaaaaaaaas!" she screamed, a la _A Streetcar Named Desire_. The group in the back burst out laughing as Luke stalked out the door. All five immediately ran to the door and held it open, so they could hear the following conversation.

"Lorelai, stop screaming and go home."

"But I don't have any coffee at home."

"Good, you need to control your caffeine intake."

"No! I can't! Luke! You must help! Luke 'I wear a stupid backwards baseball cap' Danes must help me! Lucas 'I'm a Buffethead' Danes! You must help! Beam me up, Scotty!"

"Lorelai!"

"Cooooooooooffeeeeeeeeee!" Lorelai repeated her _Streetcar_ stunt, complete with the falling on her knees.

"Lorelai!!"

"Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee is good."

"Rory! Come get your crazy mother!" Luke finally noticed Rory standing in the door to the diner.

"Only if she gets coffee," Rory called back to Luke.

"Ugh! Fine! Come on, Lorelai." Luke turned and walked into the diner. Lorelai bounced in after him, singing.

"Way down among the Brazilians, coffee beans grow by the billions. So they've got to find those extra cups to fill. Man, they got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil."

~~~~

"Paris! Get your ass away from the books and join us for a movie!" Lorelai called from the living room.

In the kitchen, Paris groaned. "I've got pages of things to do!"

"Hello! You can do them after the John Cusack marathon obviously!" Rory said.

"Yeah, come on, Paris." Lane called.

"Don't be a movie pooper." Sookie giggled. Lane slowly pulled the beer bottle from Sookie's hand as she giggled again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Paris called, and she could be heard gathering up all of the work she'd brought with her and placing them in one of her three briefcases.

"I love John Cusack," Lane said dreamily.

"I've loved him longer," Lorelai also said dreamily.

"Yes, and we all adore the man. Throw me some Red Vines."

"Of course, guest of honor." Lorelai said, throwing the Red Vines to Rory. Rory caught them and ripped them open. 

"Am I going to be the guest of honor at everything until after the wedding?"

"Yes," Lane, Lorelai, Sookie, and a newly arrived Paris responded at the same time.

"Okay. Just checking." Rory laughed and settled against the couch. Lorelai pulled Rory to her with one arm and squeezed. Sookie, sitting on the couch, reached towards her beer bottle, held away from her by Lane, on the floor. Paris grabbed the bottle from Lane and handed it to Sookie.

"Don't drive home," she advised as she sat on the couch. Sookie nodded and giggled.

"Shh! It's starting!" Lorelai hissed, standing up to stick the movie into the VCR. All the girls giggled, already silly.

"MGM…" Rory started as the lion showed up.

"Movie history in the making," Lorelai ended, plopping back onto the floor next to her daughter.

"This is fun," Paris decided.

"Movie nights are _always_ fun," Lane said. "Especially with Lorelai."

"Aww, you guys are sweeties."

"And baby dolls?" Rory asked.

"What?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"Careful, Babette, don't wanna give yourself away." Lane said.

"No more beer for you two," Lorelai yelled.

It was at this moment that the doorbell rang while someone knocked on the door. All the girls paused, and then giggled.

"I'll get it," Rory said, standing up and working her way past the piles of junk food on the floor. "Hello, Crazy Alcoholics Without A Past Anonymous! Welcome!" Rory threw the door open to reveal an older couple and a grinning twenty-two-year-old guy. Rory's smile disappeared. "Mr. And Mrs. Adams. Hi." 

"Hey, Rory," Steve, Greg's little brother, grinned.

"Whoooo is iiiit?" Lorelai stumbled to the door, two beers in her hand to go with the whole 'crazy alcoholics' joke. The girls had pulled the joke many times before.

"It's my future in-laws," Rory gestured to the shocked older couple.

"Oh." Lorelai hid the beers behind her back. "Won't you come in?" 

"Uh, actually, we're looking for Greg." Mrs. Adams said.

"Yeah, he should be at the Inn. Uh, the Dragonfly. You just go down this street a ways, and then you turn left on Maple, right on Peach, and go over the bridge with the mean duck family, and there it is."

"Thank you." Mrs. Adams turned to go, pulling her husband with her.

"Bye, Rory," Steve grinned.

"Bye, Steve."

"Bye, Rory's older sister," Steve waved at Lorelai and left.

"Did you hear that? I'm your older sister!"

"I'm so thrilled for you." Rory groaned and shut the door behind her. The girls walked back into the living room. 

"Take one down, pass it around, negative twenty-nine bottles of beer on the wall!" the other three sang, as was their custom during the joke. 

"No numbers, John Cusack!" Rory yelled, forgetting her troubles. Lorelai nodded and jammed the play button on the VCR. 

"Okay, we're gonna have a drinking game, only not so much drinks, but chocolate." Lorelai said.

"Ooh! The Cusack game!" Rory exclaimed. 

"Exactly. See, every time we see either John or Joan Cusack's name or face, we must throw an entire Hershey's kiss into our mouth and yell 'Johnny boy' or 'Joany girl'. Johnny's for John and Joany's for Joan."

"Ohhh." Sookie nodded. 

"And two Hershey's kisses if they're both on the screen," Rory added.

"What do we yell?" Paris asked. 

"Cusack Cusack Cusack. Right?" Lane looked to Lorelai for affirmation. Lorelai nodded.

"Okay, then." Paris grabbed a bag of Hershey's kisses and settled back into the couch. 

"Here he comes!" Lorelai yelled as the credits started rolling. "And…Johnny Boy!"

"Johnny Boy!"

~~~~

"Movie night?" Greg asked as Dave walked up to him in Luke's. Dave nodded.

"They'll be doing this at least twice a week the entire time we're here."

"That's what Rory said. So what is there to do around here?"

Dave shrugged. "Go to movie nights."

"Oh. Well, after my brother shows up, he'll probably insist that we go out to a strip club every movie night."

"What about a bar?"

"What?"

"A bar. I know this great bar in Hartford that's always got some band playing, and they're usually awesome. You wanna go?"

"Sure. But let me stop back by the Inn and get my phone."

"I gotta pick up something, too."

"What?"

"My wallet."

"Oh, that's important."

"Yeah." Dave followed Greg out of the diner.

~~~~

"And that whole riff on 'Don't'? That's a great riff." Greg gushed to Dave as they walked into the Dragonfly.

"Brian wrote that."

"Oh, speaking of Brian, how's he doing?"

"Pretty good. He's seeing a doctor."

"What for now?" Greg groaned.

"Oh, no, he's seeing her romantically."

"Oh. That's a better spin."

"That's our Greg, always looking for better spins."

"Well, I _am_ your PR guy."

"That's why we love ya. Or at least, you know, put up with you."

"Right." Greg and Dave had made it to the front desk. Clara was still standing there, staring at the computer and typing frantically every once in a while.

"Hi. I—"

"Shush!" Clara held up a hand. "I'm trying to get a room for those people." 

"Uh, which people?" Dave asked. 

"Those people," Clara pointed, still not taking her eyes from the computer.

Greg followed her finger and groaned. "Oh, good, it's my parents." 

"Yeah, parents. And the second guy is?"

"My brother."

"Cool! See if we can get him to come to the bar."

"Sure. He'll probably be disappointed it's not 'Topless, topless, topless', but he'll come anyway."

"Yeah, dude, that's what he's here for. Go on."

Greg walked over to his parents.

"Hi."

"Hello, Gregory." Mrs. Adams smiled, hugging her son. 

"How've you been, son?" Mr. Adams clapped Greg on the back.

"Good, good."

"Your fiancée's drunk." Steve grinned.

Greg nodded. "Movie night."

"Ah. And that was her mother with her at the door?" Mrs. Adams asked.

"Yeah, Lorelai."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be a delight to meet when she's not at her 'crazy alcoholics without a past anonymous' meeting."

"Oh, they pulled that joke on you? Rory said they were gonna do that to whoever came to the door. I don't think she knew it was you."

"Oh, she realized who I was as soon as she opened the door."

"Oh. Well, when you meet her and she's sober, she's very sweet and reserved."

"I'm sure."

"Yeah. So, Steve, Dave and I are going into Hartford, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come."

"Where in Hartford?"

"To listen to a band and maybe…drink some."

"Yeah, man! I'm there! You're buying!"

"Okay, sure. Come on, Steve. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad." Greg grabbed his brother's shirt and pulled him to Dave at the front desk.

"Hey, Clara, I need a—" Dave was starting for the fortieth time.

"Shh! Hold on!" Clara said, holding up a finger again.


	8. Boyfriend Boxes 4

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter Eight: Boyfriend Boxes 4

Summary: Yelling. Complaining. Dean's stupid. More yelling. Greg's an asshole. More complaining. 

Spoilers: Only for the last chapter, and what are you doing reading out of order anyway?

Disclaimer: Got rhythm, can't miss a beat. Got new skank, it's so reet. Got something, I'm winking at you. Gonna make you, make you, make you notice I don't own Gilmore Girls.    
  


Distribution: E-mail rocks, people! Whoo! Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com

A/N: I can be mean to Mississippi, cause it's where I'm from.

I am so close to finishing "Another World" it's scary, so I'm going to slow down on this for a while. Oh, and I'm also going to be in a play next Saturday/Sunday, so I'm gonna be working on that too. Read anyway!

~~~~

Paul: Lorelai's hilarious.

Noel: Especially when she's drunk.

Jess: So, do Greg's parents hate Rory now?  
  


Todd: They should hate their son. After all, he's an asshole.

Paul: Todd!

Todd: What? I'm telling you, it's true!

Noel: Whatever. So how stupid do all of you think Dean is?

Todd: Asshole-like.

Jess: Kinda like Greg, huh?

Paul: Don't you start, too.

Jess: I'm not. But I do think he's stupid.

Dean: What? Why am I stupid?

Jess: You married Lindsay, idiot.

Dean: Lindsay? Lindsay who?

Jess: Lindsay, your girlfriend after Rory. That would make her what, your second girlfriend?

Dean: Third. I went out with this girl in Chicago who dumped me and later my cousin.

Paul: Nice. You sure you don't mean Mississippi?

Dean: Huh? No, I lived in Chicago.

Jess: You're still stupid. You got married right out of high school.

Dean: Well, apparently we're still together, aren't we?

Noel: That's true.

Paul: Doesn't prove anything, though. 

Todd: And Rory said that you guys split up and just got back together.

Dean: Oh.

Jess: So you're basically just stupid.

Dean: Oh.

Todd: I can see Dean as being stupid.

Paul: And an asshole.

Noel: Paul.

Paul: What? Oh, dammit, I've been here too long.

Noel: I think we all have.

Dean: Do you think that after she gets married she'll shove us in the attic?

Jess: And that will be better?

Dean: We'll have more people to talk to.

Jess: God, I hate this godforsaken closet.

Paul: We all do.

Noel: Yeah, really. It's tiny.

Todd: And too close to all of you.

Paul: Yeah, that's definitely the worst part. 

Dean: I hate all of you.

Jess: And we hate you, Dean. And we hate you.


	9. Interviews and Decisions

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 9: Interviews and Decisions

Summary: Rory does work. Who knows why? Another ex-flame shows up. Who cares why? Lane makes a boo-boo. It's a big boo-boo, but she and Dave decide something good first. Lor freaks over Lane's boo-boo. 

Spoilers: Yes, actually. We learn all of the names of Sookie's kids and the fact that she had three in five instead of four in four. 

(Okay, that wasn't a real spoiler. That was a made-up spoiler. I made it up. Good, huh?)

Disclaimer:  I own everything, including Tom Cruise, who is currently getting punished for divorcing Nicole Kidman. He's almost as bad an asshole as Todd thinks Greg is. 

Distribution: Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com Thanks so much!

A/N: Okay, I'm back. Big whoop.

And please, if ever I express interest in trying out for the school musical again, shoot me on sight. 

Although I did get a date to prom out of it. 

But I also got more chances for my friends to make fun of me and stupid songs about a stupid Dickens novel (No, not _Oliver! _It was _Great Expectations: The Musical) stuck in my head. _

Seriously, you have permission to shoot me. 

~~~~

"So how close do you think we are to finding a cure for cancer?" Rory asked, aiming her voice towards the tape recorder in the middle of her mother's kitchen table. 

"I wouldn't go so far as to presume that we can do anything within the decade, but we're definitely getting closer and closer. If I had to venture a guess, I would say, at the very most, fifty years. Definitely in my lifetime." Paris answered.

"And once again, you're twenty-seven, correct?"

"Yes."

"All right, thank you very much Miss Gellar." 

"My pleasure."

"I wish you the best of luck at the Nobel ceremony."

"Thank you, Rory."

"You're welcome." Rory picked up the tape recorder. "Interview with Paris Gellar, nominee for Nobel Prize. 22 May 2011. End time: nine forty-five a.m." Rory pressed stop and lowered the tape recorder, scribbled a few more notes, and looked up at Paris. "Thanks a lot," she smiled.

"Whenever. We done?" 

"Completely." 

"Okay. I've got about ten thousand stacks of work to do today."

"You gonna be holed up in the Inn?"

"Yep. Till about Sunday, I'd say."

"Okay. See you then."

"Bye," Paris waved and left.

Rory gathered her notes and straightened them into neat stacks in her binder. Standing up from the table, she rewound her tape and pressed play.

"22 May 2011 interview with Paris Gellar, Nobel Prize nominee. Start time: nine oh-two a.m." Rory's own voice floated back to her. She smiled, pressed stop and rewind again, and headed into her room. 

"All set," she said to herself, placing her binder of notes near her laptop and the tape recorder on top. She walked back into the kitchen, poured herself a fifth cup of coffee and fixed two more Pop-Tarts. Taking a sip of the dark liquid, she slowly made her way back to her desk, and after a few seconds procrastinating, she opened her laptop and turned it on. Setting her coffee gently on the desk and the Pop-Tarts carefully on top, Rory sat in her desk chair and pulled up Microsoft Word. She typed an introduction and pressed play on the tape recorder once again.

"22 May 2011 interview…." 

~~~~

"AGH!" Lorelai screamed that afternoon. 

"Mom, calm down. It's mainly going to be an interrogation of me."

"Oh, yeah, like it ever turns out like that," Lorelai scoffed.

"It'll be fine."

"Why the hell would you agree to that? Dinner! With her!"

"She's my grandmother," Rory stressed. "And I want her to be part of my wedding."

"Oh, there is no way I'm doing anything with her."

"You'll be sitting next to her. And I just want her opinion on a few of the bigger details for the big ceremony."

"Ugh. I'm dreading this." 

"I'll owe you."

"Oh, you won't just owe me. I'll _own you."_

"Sure, fine, you'll own me. She's your mother."

"Greg, you have a good relationship with your mother?" Lorelai turned to the silent third person in the room. 

"Civil," Greg shrugged.

"See? Normal people don't get along as well as we do. We're abnormal."

"Okay, whatever, we're abnormal, but we're still—the three of us—going to Grandma's for dinner tonight."

"AGH!"

"Mom!"

"Sorry. The words just spark some kind of weird reaction in me."

"Just…try not to do that with Grandma."

"Yeah, that'll happen." 

~~~~

"So we're all alone tonight?" Dave asked his wife in Luke's that afternoon. Lane nodded.

"Rory, Lorelai, and Greg are all heading into Hartford for dinner at Lorelai's parents; Paris is holed up in her room for the next decade and a half—or at least till Sunday; Greg's parents are still avoiding Lorelai, Rory, and anything to do with them, and Greg's brother is off…doing stuff I don't want to think about," Lane made a face of disgust. 

"You know so much."

"I have a gift."

"You're a busybody."

"Uh! No!" Lane reached out and slapped Dave playfully on the arm.

"Sorry, but it's true."

"Ugh, fine. So what do you want to do?"

"I was thinking we could…. I dunno, be bored?" Dave shrugged.

"We need to do something. I can't handle just being at home."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

"And I don't want to go too far out of town, either. Ugh! What is there to do?"

"We could go shopping for porcelain unicorns."

"Mmm, yeah. Great fun."

"We'll just have to think something up."

"And how," Lane agreed, sipping her coffee.

The bells over the door jingled and Sookie, Jackson, and their three kids walked in.

"I'm sorry, honey, but it's a last minute thing and Emily wouldn't let her out of it." Sookie was saying apologetically as the family settled into a table near the window.

"It's our anniversary!" Jackson exclaimed.

"I know, sweetie, but we don't have anyone to baby-sit."

Over in the corner, Lane perked up and glanced at Dave. Knowingly, he nodded slowly. Lane smiled and jumped out of her chair.

"We'll do it," she said breathlessly, arriving at the Melvilles' table. 

"You'll do what?" Sookie asked. 

"We'll baby-sit," Lane explained. Dave, coming up behind her, nodded.

"You will? See, Jackson, Lane and Dave'll baby-sit."

"If we leave now, we can get changed and make the reservations," Jackson said, glancing at his watch. He and Sookie jumped out of their chairs, kissed their children goodbye, spouted some last minute instructions, and headed for the door, leaving Lane and Dave looking at the seven-, five-, and three-year-old.

"So. You guys want to go to Lorelai's house?" Lane asked. The kids nodded, and Dave pulled out his cell-phone to call the older woman. 

~~~~

"Thanks for letting us do this, Lorelai," Lane gushed as Lorelai let her, Dave, and the three children into the Gilmore home. 

"No problem. You know, if the night turns out the way I think it will, I'm gonna go ahead and will the house to you guys."

"Mom," Rory scolded as she entered from her room, struggling to fasten a necklace around her neck.

"What? I have a bad feeling about tonight. Something unexpected will happen, and I'm almost certain it's a bad unexpected thing." Lorelai said, crossing to her daughter and fixing the necklace.

"Not everything unexpected is bad. Lane and Dave unexpectedly met, and that turned out well."

"Very well," Lane smiled at Dave.

"Don't go all mushy on me now, Kim," Rory scolded, slipping on her heels.

"It's Rygalski, Gilmore."

"It's almost Adams, Rygalski."

"I don't like Rory Adams," Dave said suddenly.

"Well, she doesn't like you either," Rory said defensively.

"No, the name. I don't really like the name 'Rory Adams'." 

"That's why my professional name will most likely be Lorelai Adams."

"Ooh, that's pretty." Lorelai said.

"I know." Rory nodded. "So people will know me as Lorelai Adams, or Rory Gilmore, maybe. I'm not sure yet."

"I like Lorelai Adams better," Lane said.

"Yeah, me too, but I'm afraid my readers won't know it's me."

"That's the wonderful thing about writing for a magazine. You can always ask your editor to stick a little picture of you and Greg at your wedding on the editor's page, with a caption that says 'Rory Gilmore gets hitched, loses identity, and becomes Lorelai Adams'." Lorelai held her hands in the air as if imagining the caption. Rory hit her with her purse.

"Ow!" Lorelai yelled, holding her head.

"Oh, it did not hurt that bad."

"Yes, it did! Owowowowwww!" Lorelai jumped up and down in pain. The three children in the room, along with Dave, giggled.

"I hit you on the shoulder."

"Oh." Lorelai stopped hopping. "I thought it was."

"Nope, that feeling's just the way your head is. Come on, let's go." Rory started out of the door.

"Okay. Hey!" Lorelai followed her, and then pulled the door closed behind her.

"Well. We finally got rid of them," Lane breathed a mock sigh as she turned to the three children.

"I wanna watch a movie," Annette, the seven-year-old and oldest of the bunch, whined.

"Okay. What do you want to see?"

"Cinderella! Cinderella!" she called, jumping up and down.

"That's one vote for Cinderella. What about you two?" Lane turned to the other two children. 

"Thomas!" Charlie, the five-year-old middle boy, said.

"Oh, good, two different movies. How about you, Luce?" Lane asked the three-year-old little girl.

"Candy Land!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, so that's one vote for watching Cinderella, one vote for watching Thomas, and one vote for playing Candy Land."

"I wanna play Candy Land too!" Charlie piped up.

"Okay, two votes for Candy Land. Annette?" 

"Mmm, can I still watch the movie?"

"Sure. Dave, why don't you set Annette up in the living room, and I'll set these two up at the kitchen table."

"Okay. Uh, do they have Cinderella? Or Candy Land?"

"What, are you kidding? We spend more time here than we do at home," Annette snorted.

"Really?"

"No, not really." Annette turned to Lane. "He's not the smartest guy, is he?"

"Not really, but I love him anyway." Lane smiled and kissed Dave. The three children all spouted an "Ewwwwww!" 

"Oh, stop it. Come on, Charlie and Lucy, let's go." Lane walked into the kitchen, followed closely by the two littlest ones. Dave looked at Annette, who looked expectantly at him.

"Come on, let's go watch Cinderella." Dave walked into the living room.

"You don't have to watch with me, you know." Annette tailed him. 

"And why not? I just happen to love the movie Cinderella."

"You?"

"Yes, me."

"But…you're a _boy_," Annette said the last word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yeah, well, not all boys are poopyheads, and this boy happens to like Cinderella." Dave paused in his ransacking of the Gilmores' video closet. "It's a Disney cartoon, right?"

"You don't know?"

"I know, I'm just making sure," Dave said defensively.

"If it's your favorite movie, shouldn't you already know?"

"I didn't say it was my favorite movie, I just said that I loved it."

"Oh, really? If you love it so much, what's Prince Charming's name?" Annette challenged, putting her hands on her hips.

"Prince Charming," Dave said back, imitating Annette's stance.

From her spot in the foyer, Lane smiled at her husband interacting so well with the little girl. He was gonna make a great father someday. He was only slightly clueless—but in a good way—and he was practically dad-like to Zach and Brian in the band, who were completely, utterly, and hopelessly clueless…they hadn't even realized that Lane and Dave were going out until the end of the band's first tour, when the couple had decided to get hitched in Vegas. They whole-heartedly supported the union, of course—just as long as they didn't break up and ruin the band. Lane and Dave had promised that they wouldn't ruin the band, and Zach and Brian were happy after that. 

"_I_ wanna be green!" Charlie screeched from the kitchen, pulling Lane out of her thoughts.

"Calm down," she said automatically, walking back to the two kids.

~~~~

"I hate my mother," Lorelai muttered under her breath. 

"Shh!" Rory hissed, elbowing her mother in the ribs. "She's in the other room."

"I know, that's why I was muttering," Lorelai shot back.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're very childish, you know that?"

"Of course. It's part of my charm," Lorelai grinned.

"Well. I'm sorry about that," Emily apologized, breezing back into the sitting room. "It looks like your grandfather isn't going to make it after all, Rory."

"Aw. I was hoping to introduce Greg to Grandpa."

"He said he's very sorry, and he'd certainly like to meet you soon." Emily directed the last part to Greg, who nodded.

"Hmm, is dinner ready yet?" Lorelai asked, leaning into Rory and trying to get a glimpse at her watch. Rory shifted her weight slightly, causing Lorelai to fall onto the couch.

"Really, Lorelai, why aren't you letting the newly engaged couple sit together?"

"Because I'm incredibly rude." Lorelai muttered as she stood to switch seats with Greg. "There. Better?" 

"Much," Emily smiled at her daughter over the two feet of space between them, as compared to the ten of before. Lorelai groaned.

"This is gonna be a long night."

~~~~

"And the young man who usually reads to Mom dropped out suddenly, so we've had to look for a replacement for him." Emily was saying later that night as the four ate dessert, gathered around the dinner table.

"Oh! How is Gran?" Lorelai asked.

"Much less insufferable now that she's been confined to the house. _Her_ house," Emily smiled.

"I haven't seen Great-Grandmother in so long," Rory commented.

"Well, why don't you?" Emily said, as if the thought had suddenly hit her. 

"What, visit Great-Grandmother?"

"Yes! You and Greg can go visit Mom, and I can spend the time talking to Lorelai." Emily gestured to her daughter, who suddenly got a look on her face like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Oh, but we came together. So they're my ride home. So I have to go with them to see Gran." Lorelai laughed—slightly, nervously.

"Oh, nonsense. Rory and Greg can visit Mom, and you and I can chat, and then they can swing back around here and pick you up."

"That sounds like a great idea, Grandma." 

"I thought so," Emily beamed and turned her attention back to her dessert. Lorelai shot Rory a "RORY!" look; Rory shrugged.

~~~~

"You're evil," Greg commented as he and Rory walked from their car up to Great-Grandmother Gilmore's front door.

"Why, thank you!"

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Hey, my mom's been complaining about my grandmother for twenty-seven years, and non-stop for the past eleven, so I decided I'd pay her back."

"And how many times have you 'paid her back'?" 

"Hmm, about twenty since I moved out."

"I thought so." Greg smiled and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss lasted a few minutes but was stopped suddenly as the front door burst open and a very familiar voice—at least to Rory—shouted "I'll see you next week, Mrs. Gilmore." 

Rory stiffened and immediately broke off the kiss. She stared at the guy as he closed the door and then looked up into her eyes.

"R—Rory," he forced out.

"Noel," she nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh…I dunno."

"Rory," Greg, with one arm still around her waist, said pointedly.

"Oh, uh, Greg, this is Noel, my ex-boyfriend. Noel, this is Greg. He's my, uh…my, uh…."

"Fiancée," Greg introduced himself, holding a hand out to Noel.

"And this is my great-grandmother's house. That's why I'm here." Rory said triumphantly. "Why are _you_ here?"

"Oh, I read to Mrs. Gilmore." 

"Ah."

"I had no idea she was related to you."

"Well, Lorelai Gilmore, Hartford…it's kinda obvious."

"Right. Uh, well, I've got another reading to get to, so I'll…see you later, I guess."

"Okay. Bye." Rory turned and watched Noel go.

"Uh, Rory?" Greg asked.

"What? Oh, right, Great-Grandmother. Let's go." Rory pulled a bewildered Greg into the house behind her.

~~~~

"They're all sleeping," Dave observed, walking from Rory's room, where Charlie was sleeping, to the foyer, where Lane was standing, watching Annette sleep with Lucy in her arms. 

"They're so peaceful when they're sleeping."

"Yeah," Dave slid his arms around Lane's waist. "They look deceptively sweet."

"You had a good time tonight, right?" 

"Yeah, pretty good." Dave grinned. "My favorite part was when Charlie and I threw ice cubes at the three of you."

"You still have to clean that up, you know."

"I know."

Lane sighed happily. "But you did have fun, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What if we could have fun like this every night of our lives?"

"You wanna try to have a baby?" Dave twirled Lane around slowly until she was facing him.

"Yeah, I think I do. It's been four years, and we're obviously happy together. The band just finished a tour, and we have yet to write our fifth album, so we're obviously not going to go back on tour for a while."

"So you want to have a kid."

"Yeah."

Dave smiled. "Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It sounds like a cool idea, and besides—how rocking would our baby be?"

"Pretty rocking. So, we're gonna try?"

"Yeah, we're gonna try."

"Cool." Lane kissed Dave softly and sweetly.

~~~~

"You can't come in," Lorelai turned around as she was unlocking her front door.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Because I forbid you, and I don't like you very much anymore."

"Mom…."

"You were mean!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I won't be mean ever again."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Fine, I won't be mean again until after the wedding."

"Hmm, big wedding or little wedding?"

"Big wedding. Although you'll have to talk to Grandma every once in a while, and civilly."

"You drive a hard bargain, but I agree," Lorelai finished unlocking the door and slowly pushed it open. Lane and Dave met her at the door.

"Good, you're home. Listen, Sookie and Jackson haven't come back yet, but we need to get going," Lane said the last two words with a glint in her eye.

"The kids are all sleeping, the girls on the couch and Charlie in Rory's room." Dave said, as eager to get out the door as Lane was.

"Okay, so I'm guessing you guys want us to watch the kids for you." Lorelai said.

"Yeah. Sookie and Jackson know they're here. Oh, and I performed a few matron-of-honor duties and invited some people to the planning of the wedding. They should be here soon."

"Okay," Rory said. "You guys go."

"Thanks!" Lane started running out of the house, Dave holding on to her hand. 

"They're off to have sex," Lorelai observed as she and Rory walked into the house.

"Mom!"

"What? It's true, you can tell by how happy they are. And the fact that they've obviously been making out for thirty minutes." 

Rory shot her mother a look.

"That perfect purple hair was all disheveled," Lorelai offered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, yeah. They're gonna go get it on."

"God, could you be any cruder?"

"Yeah, probably. If I tried."

"Well, please don't try. I beg of you."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it. It's probably Sookie and Jackson," Lorelai offered, walking away from Rory in the kitchen and to the front door.

Sure enough, after a second, Sookie came bustling through the kitchen to Rory's room.   
  


"Night, Rory," she smiled as she carried her sleeping boy back to the front door. Rory smiled back after her. There was a slight hubbub at the door, and then it closed and Lorelai locked it. Sighing, she walked into the kitchen.

"What a night." Lorelai grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned against the counter next to her daughter.

"Very fun filled," Rory commented, smiling. Lorelai just groaned as the doorbell rang again.

"This is crazy. Why is our house always the busiest after ten o'clock?" Lorelai asked, glancing at the clock. Rory shrugged. Lorelai left her bottle of water on the table and walked to the front door. She could make out what looked to be two adult human forms through the door, so she pulled it open, expecting to see Sookie and Jackson back for a missed toy. 

She was very surprised when she saw it wasn't Sookie and Jackson. It was, of course, a couple she, unfortunately, knew very well, with a daughter that she didn't recognize quite as quickly. 

But she knew the couple. Especially the man. She knew the man very, very, well.

"Christopher," she forced out. 

"Lorelai," he nodded.

"And…" the perky blonde woman said pointedly.

"And Sherry, of course. And little G.G."

"It's Georgia," the eight-year-old scowled.

"Yeah. Uh, I'll be right back." Lorelai held up one finger and walked back into the kitchen. "Your dad's here."

"What?" Rory asked, standing up straighter.

"Uh-huh. Your dad's here, along with _her_." Lorelai spat out the last word.

"Which her?"

"Both hers. God, what's he doing here?"

"I dunno. Lane probably invited him."

"Lane's gonna die, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So?" Lorelai asked pointedly.

"What?" Rory asked, confused.

"So your father and stepmother and half-sister are all freezing outside."

"It's eighty degrees out."

"Okay, so they're melting. The point is, they're out there."

"Yeah." Rory paused and took another sip of her water as Lorelai just stared at her. "Oh!" Rory exclaimed as a thought hit her. She walked out of the kitchen and to the front door. Lorelai stared after her. 

"Boy, she's slow at night."

"Won't you come in?" Lorelai could hear Rory asking. She panicked. She didn't wanna see Chris. She _especially_ didn't wanna see Chris' new family and spoiled brat. Her eyes darted all around the kitchen, until she finally grabbed a beer from her fridge and ran out the door. 


	10. Boyfriend Boxes 5

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 10: Boyfriend Boxes 5        

Summary: Noel's a dweeb. Felicity's canceled, and Scott Foley is an idiot and split up with Jennifer Garner, ass-kicker extraordinaire on the hit ABC show that was originally code-named Felicity As A Spy. 

Spoilers: Why the hell did Scott Foley split up with Jennifer Garner? They were one of my fave celebrity couples. Sigh. I guess now I have to just focus on Reese and Ryan, who are pregnant again! Yay! Happy couples having babies, how nice.

Disclaimer:  You know what I just realized? I'm writing "Boyfriend Noel" as if he were actually Noel from Felicity, except instead of Hannah, Natalie, Ruby, or Felicity, he went out with Rory. Yes, I have been watching too much Felicity. I'm so weird. 

Distribution: Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com Thanks so much!

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, but it was break and I was finishing Always You (Thank God it's over! Thank God!) and Another World (which I finished pretty well, thank you very much. It seems to me that the ending and the overall meeting of everything did the story justice.)

Ooh! And you know what else I did? I saw Identity, number one movie in America right now. And let me tell you—it's a kick-ass movie, just wonderful. Amazing twists and turns throughout the entire thing, and it was just a fabulous thriller type movie. On top of all of this, I adore John Cusack, so I loved it that much more! 

And I've got two more ideas for fics, one of which I'm already writing, another of which I'm wearing out my mom's old Bangles tapes for. 

Anyway.

On with the show!

Oh, and for some reason, the boyfriend boxes are actually kind of hard to write. I like writing the regular stories best, especially since the next chapter has some fabulous twists! Whoo-hoo!

~~~~

Dean: Witness the infamous Gilmore hit-and-run.

Todd: What?

Paul: Any kind of emotional attachment or heartache, and—

Jess: Boom! They're off like a rocket.

Dean: First kiss.

Jess: _Any_ first kiss.

Paul: Any declarations of love.

Dean: Wedding proposals. 

Jess: Ending of wedding proposals usually involves running off to a college.

Dean: Ending of relationships usually involves running to a prestigious university.

Jess: Freak-outs on the dance floor involve running to the bridge.

Paul: More than two months in a relationship involves a major life examination.

Jess: Which usually results in a movie night, complete with chocolate, and a break-up.

Dean: To be counter-acted with a make up the next day, after the effects of the chocolate has worn off.

Todd: Ignoring them involves them running into the arms of another.

Paul: True. 

Dean: For both Gilmores.

Jess: Yeah. Don't you agree, Noel? You've been awfully quiet.

Noel: I'm a dweeb.

Paul: What?

Noel: Oh, yeah. I'm a big fat dweeb. I mean, I was gonna be this great graphic designer, but here it is, six years later, and I'm…_reading to old ladies_? How much of a dweeb am I?

Jess: Actually, I was asking your opinion on the Gilmore hit-and-run technique. 

Noel: Lorelai just exhibited the major signs.

Dean: Yep.

Paul: Walking away from the object of affection.

Noel: Not saying anything to him.

Jess: Grabbing a beer.

Dean: Fleeing without saying anything.

Jess: I wonder where she went?

Noel: My guess is somewhere where she could be comforted.

Dean: And that would be…?


	11. Inadvertent Kisses

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 11: Inadvertent Kisses

Summary: Rory runs off to New York. (Whoa, déjà vu. Did this not happen in the show?) Lorelai taunts Luke by singing Jimmy Buffet songs. (Did that happen in the show too?) New plot device shows up. (Okay, I _know_ that happened in the show. Their names were Max, Jess, and Sherry.) Greg acts normal and succumbs to sibling rivalry. Or at least sibling being-mad-at-them-ness. Sherry dies.

(The last one was a lie, dammit. That'd be good.)

Spoilers: Sherry dies. Didn't I already tell you that?

Disclaimer: Sherry dies. (God, why is it so much fun to say that? Why?)

Distribution: Tell me first. You know where to reach me. 

A/N: I left you hanging with a Boyfriend Boxes chapter. How'd I do that? Luckily I'm starting this one on the same day, so you're not hanging on too much.

The _Italicized_ section in this chapter is flashbacks. So, anything that's in italics and lasts more than a word or two is a flashback, made mostly by Luke. 

Boyfriend Boxes: Are kept at Lorelai's, in Rory's closet. When Rory opens the closet, the BBs can see her ring and stuff. Kind of. You can't take any of it too literal. Anyway, hope that clears it up for you, confused. 

Jess: Will be back at some point. I promise.

~~~~

Lorelai opened her eyes and groaned. Bright. It was bright. Mind-numbingly bright. Holding her pounding head, she sat slowly up in bed. Blinking profusely, she looked around and realized that the sun was streaming in through the wrong window. Or at least, the window was on the wrong side of her bed. Finally focusing her eyes to the devastating brightness, she looked around her at the slightly familiar apartment. Was it…Luke's? 

Suddenly shocked with the realization that Lorelai was, in fact, sitting up in Luke's bed, in his bedroom, in his _apartment_, she jumped from the bed. And then realized that she wasn't wearing her normal bedtime attire. She was wearing an extra-large button-down Jimmy Buffet shirt—it looked to be the same one she'd pulled out of Luke's closet to taunt him with those many years ago. And speaking of taunting, there seemed to be a faint nibbling in the back of her mind…she'd taunted somebody…Luke, maybe? Or Christopher? Because she was sure she remembered Christopher, somewhere last night.

As Lorelai continued looking around the apartment she noticed the recycling bin piled almost to the top with beers. Had she drunk those? Shaking her head—and then grabbing her forehead to stop the aching that the movement had caused her—Lorelai reached for her clothes from the night before, the same ones she'd worn to dinner at her parents'. It seemed like she'd come over here without changing, but…at what point had she gone from the conservative dressy outfit to the Buffet shirt? She couldn't remember, and it was driving her crazy. 

Slipping into the skirt, she jammed her feet into her shoes and made her way to Luke's apartment door. After a few minutes of mind aching thought, she walked over to the window of Jess' empty room, the one that led to a large tree branch connected to a nice sturdy tree that lowered to the ground. Still wearing the Jimmy Buffet shirt and carrying last night's jacket, she pulled the window up and climbed out onto the tree, using the latent skills she'd perfected at the age of fourteen, sneaking out of her parents' home.  

As she finally slid to the ground, Lorelai glanced around to make sure that no one was looking, and then started to run home, heading the back way. 

~~~~

"So you guys are heading into Hartford today?" Rory asked into the phone.

"Yeah. Steve wants to find the bar we hit last night, Dave wants to see if the three record stores he remembers are carrying the band's newest CD, and there's no way I'm letting either one of them do that kind of stuff alone." Greg answered. Rory smiled.

"Okay. Don't forget, you're in charge of the honeymoon details, and all three of you need tuxes."

"I haven't forgotten. How could I forget?"

"So, where are we going?"

"It's a secret, sweetie, it's a secret."

"Tell me!"  
  


"Then it wouldn't be a secret."

"I need to know what to pack," Rory pointed out.

"Yes, I know, and Lane will help you with that."

Rory gasped. "Lane knows where I'm going on my honeymoon and I don't?"

Too late, Greg realized his faux pas. "Uh…no?"

"Oh, that's believable. Why did you tell her and not me?"

"So she can help you pack."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's okay."

"I'm glad that meets with your approval."

"You better be. Wait! Does Dave know?"

"No. Just Lane and me."

"Oh, okay. Don't tell anyone else!"

"I promise." 

"Good."

"Okay, I've gotta go now, sweetie."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"I love you."

Rory's smile got so big she felt like her face might explode. "I love you, too. Oh, and…you're gonna be in Hartford pretty much all day, right?"

"Right. Why?"

"No reason. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye." 

Rory smiled as she hung up the phone. She was desperately in love with a fabulous guy. _And_ since he was gonna be out of town all day, she could drop into work! Cool!

~~~~

Luke glanced up from his order pad when the bells over the door rang. Seeing who it was, he blushed and immediately turned his attention back to the couple in front of him. Lorelai performed a similar move, turning away from Luke and walking to the counter, keeping her eyes downcast the entire time. Taking as long as he possibly could to avoid her, Luke finished taking the couple's order and gave it to Caesar in the kitchen. Then he turned around and noticed Lorelai, just sitting at the counter, playing with a pen from her purse. His mind flashed back to the night before. __

_"Lukey! Lukey!" Lorelai called from downstairs, standing in front of the diner. She continued rattling the door, and before long, Luke ventured from the kitchen and opened it, annoyed. _

_"Whaddya want, Lorelai?" _

_"Christopher came, Lukey." She started, waving her empty beer bottle around. "And he brought his stupid new wife and their stupid new kid. I hate them all." _

_"I know," Luke said, for lack of anything better to say._

_"Can I come in? I need more beer." _

_Luke, realizing that she was still standing on the diner steps, stood aside, and she walked in, bypassed the counter, and started up the steps to his apartment, ranting._

_"Christopher's a bastard. I can't believe I ever believed I was in love with him, although you have to admit he did a pretty good job of trying to convince me that he'd changed. He _did_ change, that bastard. And then he got back together with Sherry, just cause she was pregnant. I hate them all." _

_At this point, Lorelai had reached Luke's apartment, and realized that she had no key and the door was locked. She pulled feebly at the door and then looked at Luke, who was standing right behind her._

_"Could you open this? My buzz is fading."_

_Luke nodded and she stood off to the side as he pulled a key out and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open and stood aside, allowing her to enter first. She smiled at the gesture._

_"Thank you. You're such a gentleman. Not like Chris, that bastard." Lorelai made her way to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. Then she stood up and looked at Luke. "Oh, you need one too."_

_"No, I—"_

_"No, I insist." Lorelai pulled a second bottle from the fridge and threw it to Luke, who caught it. "I can't drink alone. It'd be too pathetic."_

_"So, why not talk to Rory?" Luke asked as he walked over to her and opened first her bottle, and then his own. She shook her head as she took a sip._

_"Rory wouldn't understand. For one thing, she's in love with Greg, and I don't wanna take anything away from her right now. For another, she _likes_ Christopher. I'm not sure how, but she does." Lorelai shook her head again. "That girl baffles me."_

_"I'm sure she does." Luke felt like such an idiot. He never knew what to say when Lorelai started raving, and now she was drunk and raving. Finally, he just decided to say whatever came to his mind. _

_Sitting on the couch next to Lorelai, he said, "Rory baffles me too."_

_Lorelai nodded. "She's too smart for her own good."_

_"But at least she's happy."_

_"Unlike some people I know," Lorelai said softly._

_"Me, too," Luke agreed. Lorelai nodded slowly, and then turned to Luke._

_"You're nice, you know that?"_

_Luke, surprised, could only nod._

_"Yeah. You're very nice." Lorelai smiled, and then leaned in. "I've always wanted to kiss you," she murmured._

_And then their lips hit. Made contact. Lorelai kissed Luke with all of the fervor she could stand. Luke, after a split second, kissed back with just as much fervor, his hands reaching up to cup her face. Lorelai even set her beer down and wrapped her arms happily around his neck. _

_After a few minutes, she broke off._

_"Well. That was nice."_

_"Yeah."_

"Luke? Earth to Luke!"

Luke shook himself from his thoughts as Kirk waved his hand in front of Luke's face. 

"Where's my muffin? I ordered it a full two minutes ago."

"Calm your ass down, I'll go get it." Luke stalked to the counter and pulled a muffin from in the case. Walking back over to Kirk's table, he set it down on a plate. "There. You happy?"

"No, actually—"

"Shut up, Kirk!" Luke walked away from the other man, fully annoyed, and made his way behind the counter.

"Kirk annoying you again?" Lorelai asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Yeah. He does that."

"Uh-huh. You, uh, you want some coffee?"

"Sure." 

Luke nodded and started to pour some coffee for Lorelai. She cleared her throat a few times.

"Uh, I wanted to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"How, uh…how did I end upstairs this morning?" Lorelai leaned as close to Luke as she dared and whispered.

"You don't remember?"

Lorelai shook her head. Luke breathed a silent sigh of relief, and then wondered if he really was relieved that she didn't remember that she'd kissed him. 

"Uh, you showed up at the diner right after I closed, babbling about Christopher."

"Oh, Chris. Yeah. He, uh, showed up last night, and I guess I freaked out."

"Yeah. But you just marched right past me and headed upstairs for a beer."

"Oh, I had lotsa beer last night."

"Yeah, you did."

"Uh, how did I end up in your shirt?" she leaned closer, and whispered again.

"You spilled beer on your jacket, and looked through my closet, and pulled out the Jimmy Buffet shirt."

"And did I taunt you at that point?"

"By singing horribly? Yeah. And then, you passed out on the couch, so I moved you to my bed and slept on the couch."

"Ah. Well, thank you for that."

"You're welcome."

"Did anything else happen?" Lorelai thought she vaguely remembered wrapping her arms around Luke's neck. 

"Uh…." Luke paused, and _was he blushing?_ He was. Luke was blushing. "No." He shook his head, poured the rest of the coffee pot into Lorelai's cup, and walked off. Lorelai stared after him in astonishment. Luke had blushed. Why? What had happened?

~~~~

When Rory stepped off the bus in New York City, she decided to bypass the subway station in Port Authority and walk the eight blocks to the next station, just to see a little of the city.  As she walked from 42nd Street to 34th, she passed three magazine kiosks, each proudly displaying her magazine. After passing the third one, she couldn't take it anymore, and she ended up purchasing one. Her latest article was featured on the cover, with a big three quarter page picture of Cher, who had recently gotten married and decided to commemorate the wedding by going on tour. 

As Rory was sitting on the 14th Street Local train, reading an article about the latest Clark Kent/Superman movie, she realized that a little girl was staring at her. She looked up into bright green eyes under a mess of blonde curls. She smiled.

The little girl shrieked and buried her head into her father's sleeve.

"Grace? What is it, sweetie?" the girl's father asked. Rory froze at the voice.

"She's being a big baby," a matching little girl on the other side of her father said snidely.

"Chastity! That's not nice," the man scolded. "Grace? What's the matter?"

Grace just shook her head and, without lifting her face from her father's sleeve, pointed to Rory. Grace's father looked into Rory's face and his mouth dropped in shock.

"Rory," he said, sounding choked.

"Paul," she nodded. "Are those your girls?"

"Uh, yeah. Twins. Grace," he gestured to the girl still snuggled into his shirt, "And Chastity." He gestured to the girl on his other side, who stuck her tongue out at Rory. Rory laughed.

"They seem very nice."

"Uh, they can be. So, are you still with…what was that magazine called?"

"_various identities_," Rory answered, holding her magazine upright so Paul could read the title. "And yeah. Actually, I just interviewed her." She pointed to Cher.

"Cool. You been to her concert?"

"I've got tickets to go. I think my fiancée and I might go."

"I would've thought your mother would have been the one to take," Paul said, completely ignoring the fact that Rory had said "fiancée".  

"Yeah, either her or Greg." The train pulled to a stop, and Rory glanced at the signs posted on the wall. 7th Avenue. Too soon for her. She was wondering if she should get out anyway when Paul stood up.

"This is us," he said, carrying Grace in one arm and holding Chastity's hand. "Nice to see you again, Rory."

"You, too, Paul." Rory smiled as the three walked away, and then breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed. That was, what, the fourth time she'd come in contact with an ex-boyfriend in the two weeks she'd been engaged? What was that about? 

~~~~

"What the hell are you thinking?" Greg yelled in the middle of a busy Hartford street.

"I don't know!" Steve yelled back. "Maybe I just wanted some fun!"

"You can't expect that that fun is gonna be getting a _hooker_ in the middle of the day!"

"Well, it would have been fun if you hadn't shown up!"

"Steve! Dammit, listen to yourself!"

"I sound normal to me!"

"Then that's a problem!"

"What crawled up your ass?"

"I don't know, maybe it was you!"

"Okay, guys, this conversation is starting to get a little weird. Let's try to calm down a little and maybe move indoors…." Dave tugged on both guys' arms, but they pulled away and continued screaming. 

"Ever since you got engaged, you haven't wanted to do anything fun!"

"Getting married is a big responsibility, something I don't expect _you_ to know anything about!"

"Hey, I have plenty of responsibility!"

"You just graduated college and you still have no idea what you want to do with your life!"

"Just because you knew what you wanted to do with your life at sixteen doesn't mean the rest of us can do it!"

"But you haven't even tried!"

"Guys…." Dave tried desperately again.

"Fuck off!" Steve yelled.

"Hey, don't tell him to fuck off!" Greg yelled at Steve.

Dave sighed and waved at a particularly high-society older woman as she hurried by.

~~~~

"Dave and I are trying," Lane announced as soon as Paris walked into the Gilmore living room.

"Trying what?" Paris asked, sitting on the couch and stealing a handful of popcorn from the bowl sitting on the coffee table between Lorelai and Lane.

"Trying to have a baby," Lane clarified, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow. I can't imagine being so secure in a relationship that I wanted to bring someone else into it." 

"Me, either," Lorelai said. "Rory certainly wasn't planned. Although, I guess, you could look at mine and Rory's relationship, and say that I thought was secure enough to bring Max into it, but then I guess I wasn't."

"Max Medina?" Paris asked.

"Uh-huh. You knew that, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to clarify."

"Well, he's been one of the only Maxes I know, and certainly the only Max that I got close to bringing him into mine and Rory's relationship."

"Would you say that Rory brought Greg into your relationship, or you into her and Greg's relationship?" Paris asked.

"Huh."

"I think she brought you into her and Greg's relationship. You know, 'Meeting the Parents' and all that." Lane said thoughtfully.

"Speaking of 'Meeting the Parents,' when was the last time you checked into Mama Kim's?" 

"Oh! Uh, I should be there now."

"Seriously?" Lorelai asked. "Cause I was just kidding."

"Yeah, so was I. Shall we go get a movie, or pick one out from your numerous collection?"

"Rory said she wanted to watch the Matrix trilogy." Lorelai said.

"Speaking of Rory, where _is_ she?" Paris asked. Lorelai and Lane glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Lost," Lorelai said.

~~~~

Nicole Bezou slid out of the taxicab and into the town of Stars Hollow. She looked around in wonder. It was almost exactly like the small town she'd written about, which was based on the small town she'd grown up in. Thrilled with her decision, Nicole decided to find the local coffeehouse, and she was sure that if she asked she could find who she was looking for: Rory Gilmore.


	12. Boyfriend Boxes 6

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 12: Boyfriend Boxes 6

Summary: BBs talk. Everyone complains about how asinine Greg is (read: asshole). Someone mentions that Rory's lost, a shout-out to Lorelai's last line last chapter. There's a new box in the closet—and it's so scary Dean freaks out and gets shoved to the back of the closet—unfortunately, not for long. And maybe not at all, depending on what direction this chapter goes in. You see, I never know anything about these BB chapters. I just kinda type and see where it takes me. It's fun.

Whoo! Long summary. Probably longer than the chapter. 

Anyway….

Spoilers: None whatsoever. I believe that I'm deleting this section soon. Unless I get a major spoiler…but I don't think I'm gonna be getting any more, seeing as there's only two episodes left!!! SAD!!!!

Sorry.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Dean and Jess belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino. Noel, I just realized, belongs to J.J. Abrams and all those other people at Felicity. Paul Keith is this guy from my church (although his character is different), and Todd is my dad's name. Although, my dad doesn't act like Todd. So, you know, basically the name is not mine. But it's not yours, either, so just ignore me and read.

Distribution: You know where to reach me!!

~~~~

Noel: I think I'm claustrophobic. 

Dean: Only you could become claustrophobic after six years. 

Jess: Yeah, you decided you were claustrophobic after five.

Noel: No, seriously, it feels like we're getting squished tighter in here.

Paul: Everything's the same it's always been.

Todd: Except now Rory's marrying Greg, that asshole.

Paul: Todd.

Todd: Sorry.

Jess: Yeah, everything's the same.

Noel: No, it seems like there's more of us.

Todd: How long ago was I added? 

Dean: Two years, almost.

Todd: Yeah, nothing's new.

Noel: I swear, there's a new box in here.

Paul: Just Lane's wedding stuff.

Noel: Is that it?

Todd: I think s—Wait! What's that?

Dean: It says "Wedding Crap."

Jess: That's Lorelai's handwriting.

Paul: That's something Lorelai would say. 

Noel: Okay, I'm gonna venture out on a limb here and say that's Rory's wedding box.

Dean: For her wedding to _Greg_?!

Jess: No, her wedding to you. Yes, her wedding to Greg! Who else?

Dean: I dunno, it just seems…more real now.

Paul: Dude, she's been going out with the guy for over a year and a half.

Jess: She's been wandering around the house for two weeks flaunting her ring.

Noel: It's a great ring.

Todd: From an asshole.

Paul: Todd….

Todd: It's true, I'm telling you. He's an asshole.

Jess: Can we drop the goddamn asshole subject? It's getting really annoying.

Todd: He stole her from me!

Paul: You ignored her!

Todd: So did you!

Paul: And she ran to you!

Todd: No she didn't. She was hung up on you for a long time.

Jess: Ignoring her is just plain idiotic. We've all done it at one time or another. 

Noel: Yup…every single fucking one of us. 

Dean: We're all idiots.

Jess: Big time.


	13. End Of The World

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Lucky Chapter 13: End Of The World

Summary: The Junkie and her Angel are awkward, of course. Christopher and Sherry maybe make another appearance. I'm pretty sure REM is featured pretty prominently in one of the sections.

Spoilers: None. Seriously, I'm chopping this part out soon.

Disclaimer: Do I really own anything? No. Including basically all of the new characters (Nicole Bezou is based on my English teacher) and REM. I especially do not own Michael Stipe or the end of the world. 

Distribution: Sure! Just tell me, because then I'll stick your website on my list of favorites and frequent it…frequently.

A/N: I liked the last chapter. I especially liked the ending: very effective.

Nicole Bezou shall be explained here. 

Oh, and I've just noticed that I used the word "prominently" about three times in the last twenty minutes. Ignore it, if you want to. 

"Wedding Crap" box—it's just Rory and Greg's stuff that they're planning for the wedding. They stuff it in a box (affectionately titled "Wedding Crap" by Lorelai) and stuff the box in the BB closet when they're not planning. And that's why the BBs are freaked out—cause it's more real now; they're actually planning.

~~~~

"Williams Hardware," the sign above the door said prominently. However, underneath that was a hanging coffee cup with the word "Luke's" printed on it, and "Good Food" was painted on the windows.

Nicole decided that this was as good a place as any to get information, and so she traveled up the steps and pushed the door open.

The bells jingled as she walked into the diner and looked around. Yep. Definitely a small town's gathering spot. Nicole smiled as she walked past the small arguing/lovey-dovey groups of people and settled onto a stool at the counter. Someone ran by her and threw a menu at her, so she picked it up and started looking through it. After a few minutes, she decided that she wasn't that hungry, so she set it down and waited for Luke or whoever to walk over. 

"Whaddya want?" a guy wearing a plaid flannel shirt, jeans, and a blue backwards baseball cap asked her, pulling a pencil from behind his ear and holding it over his order pad.

"Chili fries and coffee." Nicole stated simply. The guy let out a sigh and muttered something under his breath about how the whole world was going to hell, and then placed a cup onto the counter in front of her.

"Are you Luke?" she asked as he poured her coffee. He stopped and looked up, suspiciously.

"Are you delegated by Taylor?"

"Uh, no."

"Yeah, I'm Luke. Why?"

"I'm looking for someone, and I figured that since your name is featured so prominently outside, you might know of the person."

"Who?"

"Rory Gilmore. She lives somewhere around here, doesn't she?" 

"Yeah, she lives a few blocks down that way," Luke said, pointing. "And it also looks like she's coming in." 

Nicole swirled around on the stool to see a relatively tall brunette in a blue suit walking in, her face all aglow with smiles and what Nicole recognized from personal experience as love.

"Hey, Luke. A cup of your finest, filled to the brim," Rory demanded, settling onto the empty stool next to Nicole's.

"More like your mother every day," Luke complained, shaking his head, but pouring her coffee just the same.

"Is that a bad thing?" Rory pointed out, grinning.

Luke paused a split-second too long, before finally shaking his head and just pouring Rory some coffee. "Oh, by the way. Someone's looking for you."

"Oh, really? Who?"

Luke pointed to Nicole to the left of Rory, and Nicole waved slightly. Rory smiled.

"Hi. Rory Gilmore." Rory stuck out her hand.

"Nicole Bezou." Nicole took it. 

"Mmm, Bezou. Where have I heard that name before?"

"I just wrote a book, Insecurity In A Southern Town."

"Oh, right. I read that. That was good." Rory took a sip of her coffee.

"Thank you. I've basically been working on it since I was ten."

"Which is how many years?"

"Shameless attempt to learn my age, huh?"

Rory laughed. "You can see right through me."

"Yep. Actually, it's been about thirteen years since I started. Of course, that's not the only book I've been working on. And I've got about three books awaiting publication right now, and I've already published two."

"Oh, what were the other two? I've probably read those too."

"Virtual Dreaming and May Flowers." 

"May Flowers, I liked that one. About the girl who changes her name at sixteen cause she hates it and then changes it back at the end of the book?"

"Yep, that's the plot," Nicole laughed.

"Okay. So you're here because…."

"I want you to interview me."

~~~~

"She's _lost_?" Paris asked incredulously.

Lorelai shrugged. "She didn't tell me she was going anywhere. Did she tell you?"

Lane shook her head.

"So we're completely out of the know. Ugh, that child." Lorelai continued, shoving popcorn into her mouth.

Paris rolled her eyes. "So you don't know where she is?"

"Paris, calm down. She's a big girl—she'll be okay. I bet you anything she's at Luke's right now."

"Okay, Lorelai, you're on."

"What?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"I bet you fifty dollars that Rory is _not_ at Luke's."

"Okay." Lorelai shrugged and then whispered to Lane, "Easiest fifty bucks I ever made."

"Hey, hey, hey. No whispering till _after_ we get there," Paris protested. 

"Whatever you say, oh she-who-will-owe-me-money."

Paris laughed. "Oh, that's what you think."

"You're both nuts," Lane decided, standing up from the floor and walking to the front door. 

"Says Ms. Purple Hair." Paris retorted back.

"Ms. Wants To Have A Baby Purple Hair," Lorelai corrected as she and Paris followed Lane outside.

"No," Lane shook her head. "Mrs. Wants To Have A Baby Purple Hair _Rygalski_," she corrected. The other two women nodded knowingly, and they all started toward Luke's.

~~~~

"You want me to interview you?" Rory asked, just to clarify.

"Uh-huh."

"Did Josh send you?"

"Josh who?"

Rory laughed. "Josh Martins, my boss. Editor in chief of _various identities_, my magazine. The one who assigns all of my interviews."

"I didn't talk to him. I did, however, talk to Kate, your assistant."

"Kate told you where I was?"

"Yep! You see, my agent's been badgering me to give an interview since the first book came out, but I've been putting it off. But," Nicole sighed, "I can't put it off any longer, as my agent and I are in negotiations to make my newest book into a movie. Everyone I've talked to has mentioned that you're the best interviewer; much better than Oprah Winfrey or Barbara Walters."

"Baba Wawa," Rory laughed softly to herself. Nicole shot her a confused look. "Sorry; it's just whenever I hear the name Barbara Walters I think about Gilda Radner as Baba Wawa."

"Ah," Nicole said, obviously confused. Rory shook her head. How interesting could this girl be if she didn't know Gilda Radner as Baba Wawa? Had she never seen the Saturday Night Live reruns on E!?

"Well, if I'm gonna interview you, I need to get to know you better," Rory started, bracing her hands on the counter.

"You're gonna interview me?" Nicole asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Rory said cryptically, spinning herself around before sliding off of the stool. "Follow me."

~~~~

"Uh, I don't wanna go in," Lorelai said, her feet refusing to move from their spot as her eyes spotted Luke's.

"What? Come on, we've gotta see if Rory's there."

"She's just worried that she's gonna lose fifty dollars," Paris said confidently. 

"No, it's—it's not that," Lorelai protested. "I just…remembered something I have to do. You guys check for Rory. I'll see you at home." And she turned and fled, running as fast as her legs would let her.

"She's acting weird." Lane observed.

"Weirder than usual."

"Uh-huh." Lane turned to face Paris. "What do you think it is?"

"I dunno," Paris shrugged. "Could be Rory and Greg."

"Or them," Lane offered, pointing behind Paris. Paris spun around to see Christopher, Sherry, and Georgia Hayden walking down the street toward Luke's.

"It's probably them," Paris nodded. "Come on. Let's go."

"Let's."

Paris started to go up the steps into the diner. Lane followed her, but a little slower, taking time to notice little nuances in the Haydens' behavior. Such as the way that Christopher's arm seemed a little awkward over Sherry's shoulder. Or that Sherry's smile seemed a little forced. Or how completely uncomfortably Georgia looked leading her parents through a strange town.

"Hello? Lane! Let's go!" Paris ran back down the steps and started tugging on Lane's sleeve.

"What?" Lane snapped back to earth.

"We gotta go check for Rory. Let's go!" 

"Okay!" Lane yelled back, finally following Paris into the diner.

~~~~

"I don't know why we have to be here," Sherry Hayden muttered through her smile.

"It's my daughter's wedding. I've gotta be here."

"Well, you've got another daughter. Can't you just wait to walk her down the aisle?"

_He won't get to walk _me_ down the aisle,_ Georgia thought. _I'm never getting married. I don't wanna turn out like the two of you._

"Sherry, she's my first daughter. I _want_ to be here."

"Well, I don't," Sherry grumbled. "And I don't see why we have to stay in _that woman's_ inn."

"The mother of my first daughter? Cause it's the best inn in town, and she's offering it for a reduced rate."

"I bet if G.G. and I weren't here it would be free."

"It's Georgia," Georgia spoke up.

_If you and Georgia weren't here,_ Chris thought, _I wouldn't be staying in the Inn at all_. 

"Oh, whatever you say, G.G. sweetie," Sherry smiled, passing her hand over Georgia's head briefly, her semblance of affection for her daughter.

Georgia rolled her eyes. "Let's just go get dinner."

"Good idea," Sherry forced another smile as a member of the town went by. _Maybe if I smile hard enough, they'll believe that I'm happy_.

~~~~

"Oh, a bookstore!" Nicole exclaimed in delight as Rory led her to Stars Hollows Books.

"Yep. Thought wandering around books would be the best place to get to know you."

"Good. I like books." Nicole started walking backwards in front of Rory. "What's your favorite genre?"

"I don't know. There are so many," Rory answered after a second's thought.

"I agree. There's quite a few." Nicole skipped back over to Rory and held the door to the bookstore open for her. "If I had to choose, I'd say Classics."

"Classics are always good," Rory nodded, following Nicole into the shop. 

"Oh! I remember what book I wanted!" Nicole smiled and ran off down an aisle, leaving Rory standing alone in the middle of the store. Alone in a bookstore. Not a bad thing.

Rory smiled and headed down an aisle opposite from Nicole's, hoping to get away from the very hyper younger woman for a few minutes. It seemed as if she was so much younger than she actually was. Normally Rory could act that young right along with her, but today she was feeling subdued, and she wasn't sure why.

Finally looking around, Rory realized she was in the self-help section. As that wasn't where she wanted to be, she started to walk to the next aisle when a few titles caught her eye.__

__

How to Plan Your Wedding for $2000 or Less 

__

_Weddings For Dummies_

__

_The Lifetime Network's Wedding Planner_

__

_Martha Stewart Weddings: Creative Alternatives to Expensive Traditions_

__

_Brides_

__

_Wedding Dresses_

__

_Look Your Best at YOUR Wedding!_

__

_Stars Hollow's Own Miss Patty's Guide To Weddings: I've Had Four!_

__

Rory shook her head and continued out of the aisle. Still shaking her head, she turned around and walked back. She grabbed four books and then started to the counter. 

"What am I thinking?" she wondered out loud as she walked back to the section and left all four books in a stack on a shelf. She sighed and walked away, not looking back.

"I'm just trying to plan a wedding, that's all," she tried to convince herself as she walked back and picked up all eight titles she'd looked at, including _Weddings For Dummies_ and _Stars Hollow's Own Miss Patty's Guide To Weddings: I've Had Four!_

Still shaking her head, Rory walked all the way up to the counter and paid for her books.

As a last minute thought, she chose two wedding magazines at the counter and bought those, too.

~~~~

"Thanks, Luke!" Paris called as she herded Lane out of the diner. Luke shook his head. She'd just questioned him for two minutes on the whereabouts of Rory and then, when he'd responded with the story of her interviewee, Paris had inquired about _her_, too.

Paris was certainly high-maintenance and very excitable—but she seemed to be a good friend to Rory, which was always a good thing in Luke's eyes.

As Luke started to wipe down the counter, he noticed a small purse/wallet-like contraption. It looked like a wallet, but it was too big. It didn't have a strap like a purse, and it wasn't big enough to be a purse…or was it? Luke was hopelessly clueless about…everything having to do with fashion. Period. 

Still, this was a wallet/purse type thing of sorts, and probably had money and identification in it, so he picked it up gingerly to check for ID. He paused before opening it, expecting some woman to jump out from the woodwork and start squealing like a siren before the police came and took him away. When nothing of the sort happened, he slowly edged the zipper open and opened the wallet thing. It fanned open with three compartments—one for cash, one for coins, and one for cards. The only card in the last compartment was a Blockbuster card, but at least it had a name on it. 

Nicole Bezou. 

Where did he know that name?

Was that the new owner of the _thirteenth_ goddamn porcelain unicorn shop?

No; that was Sophie Jacobs. Luke shuddered as he remembered the creepily peppy older woman. 

Okay, so that wasn't who Nicole Bezou was—but he'd heard the name recently.

Luke racked his brain and finally came up with an answer. Nicole Bezou was the girl that Rory was going to interview. Luke tried to remember if Rory had mentioned any specific place she was going to be. She hadn't.

Luke sighed as he realized that he was going to have to go the one place he really didn't wanna go right now: Lorelai's house.

~~~~

"That's great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane; and Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hmmm-mmm, hmm-mmm, hmm-mmm," Lorelai tried to sing along with Michael Stipe to "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by REM, but it wasn't working out too well.

She'd had the song since it'd come out in the eighties and she _still_ didn't know all the words.

"Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh breathing down your neck. La la la la la la la, fine then. Uh-oh, overflow, population common food but it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your own needs…." Lorelai trailed off as she realized she wasn't singing the same words as Michael. He finished out the rest of the verse and she started back in with the chorus. 

"It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." 

Lorelai bobbed her head for a few seconds, trying to remember the beginning of the next verse. And it was…

"Six o'clock, TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign towers. Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn, lalalalala, lalalala, lalalalalala. Light a candle, light a votive, step down, step down. Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means, no fear cavalier. Renegade steer clear, a tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline."

"It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine…." Michael sang the chorus by himself this time, as Lorelai focused on dancing around the living room as congratulations that she'd gotten almost half of the last verse. Unfortunately, she didn't know the third verse well at all.

"It's time I had some time alone. It's time I had some time alone. It's time I had some time alone," Lorelai sang along with background Michael as she waited for the third verse. And here it came.

"Hmmm-mmm, hmm-mm, hmm-mmm," Lorelai hummed. "Leonard Bernstein!" she yelled to the music, holding her arms over her head in triumph. And then there was some other stuff, but she was fine cause it was all over for her—she'd shouted "Leonard Bernstein" better than the best of 'em. She smiled and collapsed on the couch, and it was only then that she noticed someone standing awkwardly in her foyer, holding an unfamiliar large wallet.

"Luke," she said.

"Uh, hi," he responded, holding his free hand up in some semblance of a wave. 

It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.


	14. Boyfriend Boxes 7

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 14: Boyfriend Boxes 7

Summary: What? Boyfriend Boxes? What the hell is that?

Disclaimer: I seriously own nothing. Except for…no, wait…nope, don't own that either.

Distribution: Tell me. And I'll love you (sings) Forever! 

Sorry.

Spoilers: Dammit! I was gonna stop this! Oh, well. No spoilers here either. I don't think.

A/N: I seriously have no idea what the hell is gonna be said here. Just read and find out with me! Whoo!

~~~~

Dean: So, where do you guys think Rory is?

Jess: Probably wandering around town.

Todd: Wondering what's she's doing with that asshole.

Paul: Todd!

Noel: Seriously, let's just drop the subject of Greg. Completely. 

Dean: We could talk about the fact that Luke and Lorelai are very much in love with each other.

Jess: That I knew. Known it since the second I stepped off the bus and practically the first thing Luke mentioned to me was that we were going to Lorelai's house for dinner.

Noel: But are they meant to be?

Paul: Is everyone meant to be with someone? Or do we all just stumble across someone to love?

Todd: I think everyone's meant to be with someone. 

Paul: Says the guy with a different girl every week.

Todd: I'm just looking for the right one.

Jess: And do we all think Rory is the right one for us?

Dean: Not for me, since apparently I've been married for a while to someone else.

Noel: We were never deathly serious—we never even told each other 'I love you'.

Paul: I think I was a little hung up on my ex-girlfriend.

Jess: You were practically her Christopher.

Noel: Practically. Except Rory wasn't a mother at sixteen.

Todd: She _still_ isn't a mother.

Dean: Which is good, seeing as she's not married.

Jess: Right, Dean. That's the only way someone can have a baby.

Dean: No, I know that. It's just—I don't know what it is.

Noel: Hey, I thought we were gonna throw the high schoolers into the back of the closet.

Paul: Watch it, Noel. You're only two years post-high school.

Noel: I'm watching it.

Todd: I say we all just tape ourselves up.

Paul: How?

Todd: I dunno…maybe we should all fall over and spill, and then Rory'll tape us up.

Jess: Maybe we should just shut up for a little while.

Paul: Shutting up's good.

Jess: And besides, I like REM.

Paul: My dad lives near Athens, Georgia.

Noel: That's where they're from.

Jess: Thanks, Noel. Didn't know that.

Dean: You didn't know that?

Todd: Of course he knew that; he was just being sarcastic.

Noel: As is his nature.

Paul: As we all know.

Dean: Very, very well.

Jess: True. I'm sarcastic and I don't like to hide it.

Noel: Still, it's not exactly the best character trait.

Jess: Shut up; she's playing "It's The End Of The World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"!

Paul: That's a long name for a song.

Jess: Shut the hell up!

Dean: It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of—

Jess: Hello, Dean! We're not at that part yet!

Dean: Sorry. That's the only part I know.

Jess: Well, maybe if you'd listened, you'd find out the other words.

Dean: Oh.

Jess: Yeah.

Paul: Would you stupid teenagers shut up!

Jess: Well, now that you've asked politely….

Dean: Were you being sarcastic again?

Jess: No.

Dean: Oh. Wait, was that sarcasm?


	15. Shocked and Surprised

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 15: Shocked and Surprised

Summary: Fifth ex-flame time! No, really, I mean it this time! Paris freaks—no, not like normal. The perfect purple-haired couple (half of it is purple-haired, so the whole thing's purple haired) argue. Oh, no! Luke admits something to Lorelai—two chapters early. Lorelai admits something back. Go, JavaJunkies! Yay!

Disclaimer: You own nothing? I own **_nothing_**!!!! Hee. Sorry.

Distribution: Whoo! Go, email!!! Am I hyper? Of course!!!!!

A/N: Well, the chapter outline I wrote during the fifth chapter has been changed and expanded. Some things are shifted forward, and some are shifted back. Everything will turn out the same, I promise.

Which is good to some people, bad to others. Oh, you poor unsuspecting people!

How 'bout that whole "Hayden family" part of Chapter 13? That was all made up. That's not in the outline. How's that for improv?

~~~~

"Luke," Lorelai said.

"Uh, hi," he responded, holding up his free hand in some semblance of a wave. 

REM continued singing. The song played out, and then started over, and Lorelai finally jumped up from her spot on the couch and turned it off.

"Sorry," she said, blushing, not looking at Luke.

"'S okay," Luke responded, also looking away from her. 

After a few minutes, Lorelai finally turned from the CD player and looked at Luke.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh. I, uh, found this," he said as way of explanation, holding up the large wallet and looking up at her.

"Great. And?" Lorelai stuffed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. Luke blushed and looked away quickly as her shirt rose a few inches, showing a thin layer of skin on her stomach.

"And I brought it here."

"Hmm." Lorelai walked over and pulled the wallet from Luke's hands. "Well, it's certainly not mine, and I don't think it's Rory's. It seems a little…green." 

"No, I know whose it is."

"Great." 

Luke was silent.

"Whose is it?" Lorelai finally asked.

"Oh, it's Nicole Bezou's."

"Oh. Is that the new owner of the porcelain—"

"No, that's Sophie Jacobs," Luke interrupted. "No, Rory's gonna interview Nicole Bezou, so I figure Rory'll know how to get in touch with her."

"You know where Rory is?"

"Yeah, they're wandering around town."

"Oh, good. At least she's not lost."

"It's impossible to get lost in this town."

"I agree, but still, it's better to know where she is."

"Right."

There was silence once again.

"So, I guess that's it, huh?" Lorelai finally asked.

"What? Yeah, I guess." Luke shrugged and turned to go. Lorelai turned around and threw the wallet on the coffee table. It'd be lost in a few hours, but at least it was there now.

"Lorelai?" Luke suddenly said. Lorelai turned around to see him standing not ten feet away from her, a serious look on his face. 

"Yeah?" she asked, worried and wondering what he was going to say.

"About last night."

Lorelai nodded, afraid to do anything more.

"You, uh…well, it's the damnedest thing, actually." Luke chuckled slightly, and then looked serious again. "You see, you…you kissed me."

Lorelai stopped moving, stopped breathing, she was so shocked.

"And…and I liked it. A lot," Luke finished, staring at the floor again. "A whole lot," he whispered.

Lorelai smiled, a little scared, but mostly elated. She walked over to Luke and took his hands in her own.

"I don't remember it," she started, smiling. "But, I do know, that when you're drunk, like I apparently was last night, you sometimes do things you never would have done regularly." Luke's hands tensed inside Lorelai's, but she squeezed them and they relaxed. "Because you would be so scared normally. But when your inhibitions are down, you feel free, and you can do the things you always wanted to. And I think," she whispered, smiling into Luke's eyes as he finally looked at her, "that's what happened last night."

Luke's face broke into a grin, and then he leaned forward and kissed her with all his might. 

And she kissed back.

~~~~

Todd Jenkins groaned in disgust as his driver pulled to a stop in front of the Gilmore home.

"Just goes to show that this girl would live here," he muttered, waving for his driver to wait as he stalked up the steps. He raised his hand to knock, but then noticed a couple through the window. They didn't look like they wanted to be interrupted, so he turned around and pulled a sheet of paper from his back pocket.

"Luke's Diner," he read from the reference sheet that Josh Martins had given him the day before when he'd shown up at Rory's office looking for Greg. "God, how sickingly small-town do these people have to be?" 

Todd shook his head and walked back to his car.

~~~~

"How many books did you _get_?" Lane asked, pulling the plastic Stars Hollows Books bag from Rory's hands and rifling through it. "Eight?" she asked, looking back up at her friend.

"And two magazines."

"Wow. That's a lot."

"You're telling me. I only got three," Nicole piped in, holding up her much smaller, almost identical bag.

"I can't believe we had to look five other places till we found you." Paris shook her head.

"Me, too. You guys didn't think to check the bookstore first?" Rory asked.

"I wanted to, but Paris over here—"

"It was not me!" Paris protested.

"Oh, yes it was!"

Rory shook her head as her two best friends descended into an argument. Nicole was watching with rapt attention, but Rory looked ahead of her, towards the center of town. She watched as an unfamiliar town car rode through slowly. Automatically she wondered who was behind the tinted windows, the way she usually did with luxury cars and limousines. This habit caused for a lot of time-consuming stopping in the streets of New York, but in Stars Hollow it was a rare occurrence, so Rory took the opportunity to follow the car with her eyes as it rode right on past her. 

And that's when she noticed a familiar mid-size car with an even more familiar driver. She grinned.

"Greg!" she called, running from her friends and to the other side of the street. She stopped on the sidewalk and the car stopped beside her. Before he even turned the engine off, Greg spilled out and threw his arms around his fiancée.

"Hey, sweetie!" He smiled over her head, which fit perfectly under his chin. 

"We _have_ to do something tonight, just the two of us," she requested, and he nodded.

"I agree. Preferably away from my brother."

"Oh. Didn't have a nice family outing?" Rory asked, pulling away so she could look at him. He shook his head.

"You don't wanna hear about it."

"Okay." Rory leaned back into the hug, and then pulled away as three throats were cleared behind her. "Oh," she blushed, and extracted herself from Greg's embrace, while still keeping one arm wrapped around his waist. "Hi."

"Hi," Paris said. "You ran away from us."

"During our argument. You can't do that," Lane piped in. 

"You're the moderator."

"And we can't argue without a moderator."

"Yes, you need to moderate."

"Okay, okay, enough!" Rory laughed at her two best friends. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Lane smiled. "I wanna do it too." She turned around to see Dave standing directly behind her. "Hello."

"Hello." He smiled, and they kissed. 

"You gonna introduce me?" Nicole asked Rory.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Greg, this is Nicole Bezou. She wants me to—She writes."

"Nice to meet you." Greg stuck out a hand and Nicole shook it. 

"You, too."

"Yeah, what about me?" Steve asked.

"This is Steve," Greg said dismissively. Steve glared at the back of Greg's head and turned to Rory.

"Yeah, so, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna head back to the Inn."

"Sure, you do that. We'll see you later?" 

"Whenever you need me, just call."

"Okay." Rory air-kissed his cheek goodbye, and Steve walked off. Rory watched him for a minute and then slapped Greg's arm. "You were being rude."

"He annoyed me."

"Don't be rude. He's your brother."

"He _annoyed_ me!"

"You're not twelve. If he annoys you, get over it!"

"Fine." Greg sighed.

"Thank you, sweetie." Rory kissed Greg on his chin. He smiled. 

"Uh, Rory, I'm gonna head back to the diner. See if my purse is there." Nicole said.

"Oh, okay. Good thing you always keep twenty bucks in her pocket, huh?"

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

Nicole smiled, waved, and walked away. Paris looked around her at the two remaining couples and sighed.

"I'm gonna head back to the Inn. I've got work."

"No!" Rory and Lane both protested.

"Yeah, I need to work!" Paris said right back, copying their tone. "You guys focus on…your guys. I'll be at the Inn."

"Okay," Lane reluctantly agreed.

"Hey, if you need anything, you know you can call."

"I know." Paris nodded, waved, and walked off also.

"We should probably go, too," Dave said to Lane, a glint in his eyes. Lane giggled. 

"Yeah, we should." 

They leaned in for another kiss, and after a while finally remembered Rory and Greg and broke apart. 

"Oh. We'll see you guys later."

"Okay," Rory grinned. "Don't forget, we've got major planning to do." She held up her large bag full of books.

"I know. I'll call you tonight."

Dave cleared his throat.

"Tomorrow. I'll call you tomorrow. In the morning."

"Okay. You go have fun."

"We will!" Lane giggled, and she and Dave ran off. Rory turned back to Greg.

"Well. What shall we do?"

"All alone." Greg observed.

"There's no one here."

"Just the two of us."

"I can think of a few things we can do." Greg smiled and leaned in for a kiss. When he was millimeters away, Rory suddenly pulled apart.

"I need coffee."

Greg sighed.

"Come on, you get some too." Rory started walking toward Luke's, pulling Greg with her. 

"Do I _have_ to?" Greg whined.

"Yes, you have to," Rory smiled. "And you'll like it."

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted.

~~~~

Nicole walked up to the counter and looked around for Luke or any sign of her purse. Nowhere to be seen. She sighed and leaned against the counter, and then noticed a guy standing not five feet away from her in the same stance. A cute guy. A familiar guy.

She gasped.

"You're Todd Jenkins!" she practically yelled, turning towards the man and pointing, her hand over her mouth.

"Yes, I am." Todd smiled his movie-star smile. 

"Oh, my God! I have seen, like, every single one of your movies."

"Thank you."

Nicole giggled. "What are you thanking me for?"

"When people see my movies, they see _me_."

Nicole giggled some more.

~~~~

"Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee," Rory spoke the word with each step she took. Greg, walking right behind her—and even hindering her walk forward with his arms wrapped around her waist—just shook his head.

"I like coffee, yes I do," she started to sing softly.

"Glad to see that your mind is preoccupied with happy things," Greg laughed into her ear.

"Yes. Coffee is much happier than deadlines and interviews," Rory smiled and pulled Greg's arms tighter around her waist. "Coffee's a good thing, you know it's true."

Greg laughed as she continued the song, only soft enough for him to hear. 

"This is the best thing in the world." She said after a few verses. 

"I agree whole-heartedly," Greg kissed Rory's earlobe softly, tickling her.

"Stop that," she laughed. "That tickles!"

"What tickles?"

"That," she continued laughing. "No, stop. Stop!"

And then suddenly she stopped, Greg thumping into her. 

"Oh, my God. Stop!" she screamed at the couple making out as they walked down the street. Nicole looked up, blushed, and leaned back into Todd. Todd refused to look up, knowing the voice, so he just led Nicole further down the street.

~~~~

Paris opened the door to her room at the Inn and looked around. It was empty. 

Well, except for the large piles of work strewn everywhere from the desk to the other bed to the bedside table.

Paris sighed. After seeing both Rory and Lane with somebody, she was feeling a little…sad. And lonely. And actually _wanting_ to go on a date with somebody. Instead, she was standing in a hotel room, staring at two double beds and about four months of work. 

"The hell with this," Paris muttered, turning around and leaving the room, pulling her car keys from her purse as she made her way down the stairs.

~~~~

"What are you doing?" Rory called, running across the street to catch up with Todd and Nicole. Greg followed her almost as quickly.

"Todd, I swear to God!"

"What _are_ you _doing_?" Rory demanded, pulling Todd away from Nicole.

"We were just kissing." Todd shrugged and leaned in again.

"Oh, no, you don't," Greg protested, pulling Todd towards him. "You've got an image to uphold, man. And this sure as hell ain't it."

"What's wrong?" Nicole asked desperately. "What did we do that was so bad?"

"You can't get involved with him. It can only lead to heartache." Rory explained sadly.

"Didn't happen to you," Todd muttered.

"Man, how many times have we been over this? You were ignoring her," Greg stressed.

"And so she decided to go run into the arms of my PR guy?"

"I was spending a lot of time with him, Todd. He was the one who kept telling me that you couldn't be reached."

"Yeah. You made me lie to your girlfriend. That's bad."

"Why'd you do it?" Nicole asked.

Greg shrugged. "It's actually in my job description. If the client says he can't be reached…he can't be reached. Sometimes not even the client's _mother_ is authorized to talk to him at that point."

"So, you're like a professional liar."

"No, not really. I just put a spin on the truth," Greg protested as Rory laughed into her hand.

"Yeah, he just spins the truth, to tell all the paparazzi all the good things about the celebrities. Like, there's a certain movie actress I'm sure you would not believe owns a—"

"Ror." Greg interrupted her. "Confidentiality."

"Right. Confidentiality," Rory nodded, and then she turned her attention back to Todd. "Don't kiss my possible interviewees. I've told you this before."

"Yeah, well, everything changed when you took up with that asshole," Todd muttered, glancing quickly at Greg.

"Hey! Don't call him an asshole!"

"I will if I want to!"

"I've got the power to ruin your career, man. With proof," Greg threatened. 

Todd shut up.

~~~~ 

"Hey, we should invite Paris to dinner," Lane said suddenly. She and Dave were lying on their stomachs on their bed in their room at the Inn, watching some "Behind the Music" documentary on the band they'd toured with a few years back.

"We shouldn't invite _anybody_ to dinner," Dave left a trail of kisses going from the side of her lip to her chin. 

"Come on, we should." Lane pushed Dave gently away from her and rolled onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows. 

"I guess…she did seem kinda lonely," Dave said grudgingly, rolling off of the bed and standing up. 

"Yes, exactly!" Lane stood next to her husband and kissed him on his chin. "You can be so sweet."

"Yeah. Sweet. That's what I want to be," Dave rolled his eyes and turned off the TV.

"Sweet can be good. _And_ rewarding," Lane added, snaking her arms around Dave's neck and kissing him sweetly.

"We're so having a short dinner," Dave muttered out of the edge of his mouth.

~~~~

"Well. That was fun," Lorelai stated simply, leaning into Luke after their extensive make-out session.

"Very fun," Luke agreed, happily playing with a strand of Lorelai's dark hair. She craned her neck to look up at him and smiled.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?"

"Because we're idiots," Luke answered, leaning towards her lips once again.

"Apparently so," Lorelai smiled through the kiss, surrendering herself to Luke's masterful lips.

Suddenly—

"Oh, my God! I'm so unplugging that phone!" Lorelai groaned, throwing her arm above her head and reaching for the phone on the end table next to the couch. Finally Luke grabbed it and handed it to her. "Thank you," Lorelai smiled, kissing him quickly before finally answering.

"Oh, my God, what?" Lorelai demanded, annoyed. Suddenly her looked changed to one of disgust. "Here? That horrible movie star guy?"

"Who?" Luke asked, intrigued. Lorelai just shook her head and sat up, giving her full attention to the person on the other end of the phone.

"He did _what_?" Lorelai exclaimed. "Oh, my God. Eww!" Lorelai listened again. "Oh, okay, honey." She moved the phone away from her mouth and said to Luke, "She's got another call."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Rory."

"Who's she talking about?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly moved the phone back to her mouth. "Rory? What? _What_ happened? Oh. And they can't find her? Oh, okay. You do that." She hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Luke demanded.

"Paris is gone. They can't find her."


	16. Boyfriend Boxes 8

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 16: Boyfriend Boxes 8

Summary: Todd's an asshole. Hee. Noel's an idiot. Todd's an asshole.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Whoo-hoo! 

Distribution: I **_love_ **getting my stories stuck on new websites, but I like to know before hand. So if you could just e-mail me….

A/N: Omg! I'm so stupid! I was supposed to write about four more things in the last chapter! So, I have written them. So, please read Chapter 15 one more time, so that (1) you can understand this chapter, and (B) you can understand the next chapter.

~~~~

Todd: Still got my wits about me, huh?

Paul: You're an asshole.

Dean: You just…made out with that other girl?

Todd: 'S what I do. It's why I'm a movie star.

Paul: It's idiotic, is what it is.

Todd: Hey, you aren't a movie star—if I were you, I'd shut up.

Jess: He's not an asshole, either.

Noel: Well…

Jess: Fine. Besides that one Christopher/asshole-like indiscretion, he's not an asshole.

Paul: Yes. Thank you, Jess.

Jess: You're welcome. Just remember this moment the next time you guys decide to gang up and shove the three of us in the back of the closet.

Noel: Yeah, that wasn't fun.

Dean: No, it really wasn't.

Paul: You know what I'd like to talk about now?

Dean: What?

Paul: How stupid Noel is.

Jess: Hear, hear.

Noel: _What_ about how stupid I am?

Todd: Yes, there's so many incidents to choose from.

Paul: While there _are_ many incidents to choose from, I was thinking about the whole "liking Paris…like _that_" fiasco.

Jess: That was stupid.

Paul: I whole-heartedly agree.

Todd: Yeah. Dude, it's _Paris_.

Dean: The human robot.

Todd: The human _non-feeling_ robot.

Paul: And she's not even like Lee Majors, or that robot guy in Chip. She's just…high-maintenance. 

Jess: High, high-maintenance.

Dean: _So_ the opposite of Rory.

Noel: Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking.

Paul: Paris.

Todd: Dude! That was stupid.

Paul: You've done stupider.

Noel: And it was usually broadcast on TV, what you did.

Todd: Eh. At least I didn't like Paris.


	17. Don't You Know

Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 17: Don't You Know 

Summary: Road trip! Whoo-hoo! Jersey, D.C., _and Boston! Par-tay!_

Disclaimer: I don't own diddly-squat.

Distribution: Yay! I love distribution!

A/N: Ooh! Flashbacks! This time, both people remember it! And it's a happy flashback!! And it's some Rory/Greg development! Yay!

This chapter was kind of hard to write, and I almost didn't write it, but I felt I owed it to you guys to get it out as soon as possible.

I was gonna get it out before the movie I made with my friends, but that was Friday and Saturday, so it doesn't look like I made it. 

I was also gonna get it out before finals, but instead I decided to study for one day of exams and then write this chapter for you instead of studying for my worst exam!! 

Anyway, after tomorrow there's no more school! And I can finish the story! I already know how it ends! 

I am so cool.

~~~~

Rory hung up her cell phone and looked at Greg in shock. "They can't find her."

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'm sure she's not far away. You and Lane get together, you can find her in twenty seconds flat." Greg wrapped an arm around Rory, who nodded and leaned into him. 

"Who's Paris?" Todd asked.

"She's gone?" Nicole asked at the same time, both shocking Greg and Rory from their thoughts.

"I…gotta go find her." Rory said, looking up at Greg, who nodded.

"I'll take care of the love bird twins. You and Lane do whatever you have to do…call me when you have real plans."

"Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Rory kissed Greg quickly and started walking to the Inn. Greg watched after her for a few moments, smiling, and then turned to the other two with a scowl.

"You two. Don't you know that you _never make out in public?"_

Nicole blushed and looked away, while Todd grinned.

~~~~

"Rory!" Lane yelled as Rory walked into the lobby of the Inn. The girls ran to each other, and Lane started spewing information.

"I asked Carla, and she said she saw Paris run out of here not long after she ran in. She was swinging her car keys around and muttering about how she was going to live her life, just like everyone seemed to be living theirs."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I thought so at first too, but I've had time to think about it, and I think it has something to do with our hellos to Dave and Greg earlier."

"Ohhhhh." Rory nodded. "Ooh! I know where she is! Or, at least, where we can go to find where she is."

"Where?"

"We have to drive a couple hours to look up a certain someone."

"Ooh!" Lane smiled as she realized what Rory was getting at. "Whaddya think, overnight?"

Rory glanced at her watch. "Yeah, probably. It's already after six."

"Okay. I'll go pack a suitcase for me and Dave."

"Aw, I can't wait to have that. One suitcase for me and my husband."

"It's great, but you've only got a little longer to wait."

"I know." Rory grinned, and Lane ran up the stairs, yelling at Dave to come up as soon as he could. Rory looked around and noticed Dave standing at the front counter, apparently trying to get information from Carla. Rory walked over.

"And then she…." Dave waited for Carla to finish the sentence.

"Ran away," Carla repeated as slowly as she could. She'd already said it about twenty times, but Dave refused to believe that Carla didn't know any more.

"Dave," Rory said as a greeting, placing her hand gently on his arm. He turned to her.

"Hey. I'm just trying to get information out of Ms. Closed Mouth over here," he gestured to Carla, who stuck her tongue out at his back. Rory smiled.

"You know what? I don't think she knows anything else. But I do know where we can find Paris. Or at least, where we can find someone who might know where Paris is."

"Oh, really? Where?"

"It's an overnight trip. Lane's packing your bag right now, and she was just screaming for you to get up to the room as quickly as you could. So that, you know, you could take what _you wanted to take on the trip, not just Lane."_

"Ooh!" Dave ran from Rory and took the stairs three at a time, screaming, "Lane! I want my guitar!"

Rory turned to Carla. "Excuse me, Carla, when Lane and Dave come down, can you tell them to meet me at home?"

"Uh-huh," Carla nodded, popped her gum, and returned to the computer.

"Uh-huh," Rory repeated. She nodded also and left the Inn.

~~~~

Rory walked up the steps to the porch at her mother's house.

Luke and Lorelai jumped apart.

Rory opened the door.

Lorelai combed her fingers through her hair; Luke found his baseball cap under the coffee table.

"Mom!" Rory yelled.

Lorelai gestured that Luke had lipstick on his cheek; he tried to wipe it off. She finally rolled her eyes and wiped it off with her thumb.

"Mom!" Rory yelled again.

"Living room!" Lorelai yelled back. Luke jumped off of the couch and turned to leave.

"Oh," Rory said as she ran almost directly into Luke. "Hi."

"Hi. I was just leaving. I brought Nicole's purse…wallet…_thing. It's on the table." Luke pointed and walked out of the house the door closing behind him._

"O-kay," Rory said hesitantly. She opened her mouth to explain to her mother about Paris when Luke walked back into the house.

"Bye, Lorelai," he said, standing next to Rory in the entranceway to the living room.

"Bye, Luke," Lorelai smiled. Luke smiled back, nodded to Rory, and left once again. Rory turned to her mother and raised her eyebrows. Lorelai shrugged.

"Paris. 'Dya find her?"

Rory shook her head. "We're going on a road trip—Lane and Dave and I. What was all that about?"

"All what?" Lorelai asked innocently.

"Luke. He walked back into the house…just to say goodbye?"

Lorelai shrugged. "He must have missed me."

"Mom."

"I don't know."

Rory stared at her mother for a second, and then finally shrugged herself.

"Fine. Don't tell me. I'm gonna pack—hopefully Lane and Dave will be here soon, and then we're gonna leave."

"Okay, sweetie."

"Yeah." Rory nodded, stared at her mother for another second, and then wandered into her room to pack.

~~~~

"Okay, so I have no idea where we're going, and since I have no idea where we're going, I have no idea how long it's going to take, so I thought I'd bring my copy of Entertainment Weekly's _Great American Pop Culture Quiz, just to see how much your mother has really ruined you." Lane said as Rory climbed into the Rygalskis' car a few minutes later._

Dave groaned. Lane glared at him. 

"Hey, now, you can't groan, you're the one who brought it."

Dave nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

Rory smiled from the backseat as Lane rolled her eyes. 

"You are so annoying."

"You are."

"You are."

"You are."

"Okay! Question number one, oh annoying husband of mine. 'On _Friends_, how many times has Ross been married? And who were his wives?' Hah! Answer that!"

"Easy. Three—Carol Willick, Emily Waltham, and Rachel Green." Dave smiled at Lane, who frowned. 

"How do you know that?"

Dave blushed slightly. "Guilty pleasure."

"Your guilty pleasure is _Friends. _How do I not know that?"

"You don't pay attention."

"I pay attention. I pay plenty of attention. I know every single chord you ever wrote for the band."

"That's paying attention to the band, not to me."

"I think it's basically the same." 

"Oh, no, it's not the same. It's certainly not the same. I'm _Dave_. The band is _the band. That includes you, __Lane."_

"Yeah, but still. My husband's guilty pleasure is _Friends, and I didn't know that. I feel bad now."_

"Don't feel bad; I've basically been hiding it from you."

Lane gasped. "You've been hiding things from me?"

"Just that."

"We're married! You're not supposed to hide anything from me."

"It's just _Friends_."

"It's not just _Friends_!" 

"Hey, Lane? I'm back here." Rory pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Ror."

"'S okay. Just a domestic squabble."

Lane and Dave looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"A domestic squabble!" 

"It sounds so…ridiculous," Lane tried to explain to the very confused Rory.

"Okay…" Rory said hesitantly. 

"Yeah. It _is_ weird. You know what? I think we should go back to the quiz."

"That's probably a good idea." Rory said.

"Mmm, before we get into that, I just have one question, Rory."

"Shoot."

"Where are we going?"

"Oh! Right. You don't know. New Jersey. Princeton, New Jersey, to be exact."

"Lemme guess: to go visit Princeton University?" Dave asked.

"Exactly," Rory nodded.

~~~~

An hour later, the magazine and pop culture quiz had been thrown to the floor of the car and all three adults were sitting in comfortable silence, listening to the radio.

"And that was Joseph's Return, with 'Love: Fiction or Fact?' Coming up next, 'We're All Light', by XTC."

"Ahh!" Rory yelled, sitting up straighter in the back seat.

"What? What?" Lane asked semi-frantically.

"Turn up the radio, it's our song!"

"Oh," Lane obliged, and Rory started singing along. 

"_Don't you know,_

_'bout a zillion years ago_

_Some star sneezed_

_Now they're paging you in reception_

_Don't you know,_

_Jack and Jillion years ago_

_Some dinosaur dropped the pail_

When it saw our reflection 

_Don't you know we're all light?_

_Yeah I read that someplace_

_Don't you know we're all light?_

_Yeah I read that someplace_

_So you won't mind if I kiss you now_

_Before indecision can bite_

_Don't you know, in this new Dark Age_

_We're all light._"

"Tell the story," Lane pleaded as Andy Partridge started in on the second verse. 

"Okay," Rory agreed. "Well, I was dating Todd…."

_**********_

_"Hello? Todd? Are you here?" Rory asked as she entered his apartment. He'd called her the day before, asking her to meet him at his apartment, but she'd been busy, and this was the earliest she'd been able to get away. _

_He hadn't answered when the doorman had buzzed up, but someone had assented to Rory coming up…she just wasn't sure who._

_"Todd? Hell—oh!" Rory walked into the living room and got a shock. Todd wasn't home after all, but someone certainly was._

_"Ms. Gilmore," Greg said menacingly from his seat at a desk in Todd's living room. _

_Rory groaned at the thought of having to hear another dumb ass explanation from Greg Adams, Todd's stupid PR manager. _

_"Mr. Adams," she smiled through her teeth. "Is Todd here?"_

_"No."_

Oh, here it comes,_ Rory thought. "Why not?" she asked out loud._

_Greg shrugged. "Still in Kuwait, I suppose."_

_"Oh. You don't know?"_

_"Nope."_

_"But…he called me yesterday."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah." _

_"Yes," Greg corrected automatically. Rory smiled the way that people who are trying to be patient—but are almost failing—smile. _

_"Yes, Candice Bergen."_

_"Miss Congeniality." Greg automatically said. Rory paused. Had he just gotten her cultural reference?_

_"Uh, that's right."_

_"I know." Greg grinned. Rory groaned inwardly as the momentarily cool Greg left and the absolutely egotistical conceited Greg returned. _

_Rory gave a disgusted sigh and walked over to the desk Greg was sitting at. Immediately Greg freaked and imagined that she was going to slap him or something, and so he tensed up._

_"Relax," she half-smiled, rolling her eyes. "I'm just going to turn on the stereo." Her hand reached to the large knob that turned on Todd's deluxe stereo—with speakers spread all around his apartment. Greg grabbed her wrist._

_"No, I don't want to listen to music right now."_

_"Too bad, it's my boyfriend's apartment."_

_"And he's not here right now," Greg shot back._

_"But he asked me to be here."_

_"I don't think he did." Greg shook his head and released Rory's wrist. _

_"Well, then…who did?"_

_Greg looked up from his work slightly, staring at the wall before turning to Rory. "Have you told people that you're dating?"_

_Rory bit her lip in thought, and eventually nodded. _

_"See! It was obviously just someone pretending to be Todd, hoping to lure you here."_

_"Okay, I'll give you that," Rory said reluctantly, crossing her arms across her chest. "But why did you buzz me up?"_

_Greg ducked his head and blushed slightly. After a few moments of silence he spun around on his chair._

_"Okay! What did you want to listen to?" he asked cheerfully, ignoring Rory's question._

_"I've been on an XTC kick lately," Rory said. Greg nodded and started searching through Todd's desk drawers, which were full to the brim with CDs._

_ "Why did you buzz me up?" Rory asked again as Greg stood and slid a CD into the stereo._

_Greg remained silent and focused on the stereo._

"And I won't take from you

Don't you know,

'bout a zillion years ago

Some star sneezed

Now they're paging you in reception," _XTC sang. _

_"Greg?" Rory asked._

_He groaned, muttered, "What the hell?" and spun around._

_"Cause I wanted to."_

_"Oh," Rory said, strangely happy. She glanced away from Greg, and then back. _

"Don't you know we're all light?

Yeah I read that someplace

So you won't mind if I kiss you now

Before indecision can bite."

Rory and Greg smiled, and then mutually leaned in for a mutually initiated kiss.

_And Rory didn't even run._

_*******_

"So romantic," Lane grinned. "We're All Light" was long over, but Rory was still in an 'our-song' induced cloud of happiness.

"I agree," Dave said. "You guys are good for each other."

"Why, thank you, Dave."

"You're welcome, Rory."

"Number 28," Lane said suddenly, picking up the magazine again.

~~~~

"Here we are, Princeton," Dave proclaimed as he pulled the car into a prime spot in front of Princeton's Administration Building. "What are we doing here?"

"Looking up Jamie. I'll be right back." Rory bolted from the car and ran into the building. 

"Didn't Jamie graduate…a long time ago?" Dave asked.

"Yep." Lane nodded.

"Is she expecting him to still be there?"

"I think she's gonna ask the alumni group where she can reach him."

"Ohhh. That makes sense." 

Lane shook her head. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I married you." 

Dave raised his eyebrows at her.

"And then I compare you to Brian and Zach, and I marvel at how intelligent you can be."

Dave laughed. 

Rory walked out of the admin building, happily waving a piece of paper around.

"Wow, that was fast." Lane commented as Rory walked to the car and slid in the backseat.

"I know, but all I did was walk in there, tell them I needed to know where Jamie was, and then, when they wouldn't tell me, I yelled about how his daughter was waiting in the car to meet her father, could they hurry this up a little?"

"Rory!"

"It was a fabulous performance, if I do say so myself."

"So, where is he?" Dave asked.

"Uh," Rory consulted her paper, "he's working in a Senator's office in D.C."

"Okay. D.C…here we come!" Dave put the car into gear, and the group rode out of Princeton University. They got as far as a block away before Lane made Dave pull over, so they could get a hotel for the night.

~~~~

"About our 'finding Paris' plan," Rory started over breakfast the next morning. "I think we need to revise it."

"Oh, really? How so?" Lane asked.

"Well, I was thinking about it last night, and Paris doesn't seem like the type to run to a boy."

"Paris doesn't seem like the type to run, _period_." Dave said.

"Well, yeah, but I think if she were to run, she wouldn't run to a boy."

"Where would she run?" Lane asked.

"A college."

"Boston." Lane said immediately.

"Harvard." Rory nodded.

"Biscuits!" Dave exclaimed, heaping some on his plate.

~~~~

"Five hours…it's gonna be five hours," Lane complained as they got into the car an hour later.

"Yeah…but they'll be a fun five hours, won't they?" Rory asked.

"I dunno. I think you guys should just leave me on the side of the road to die somewhere."

"Lane," Rory scolded.

"No, not really. I guess. You wanna leave me in Stars Hollow when we pass through?"

"Actually, according to my calculations," Dave started. Lane snorted. Dave shot her a look, and continued, "if we bypass Stars Hollow, we can get to Harvard in under five hours. Maybe under four."

Lane smiled and threw her arms around Dave. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

Dave grinned and started the car.

~~~~

"If I were Paris…." Rory said to herself as she, Lane, and Dave got out of the car in Boston. 

"Hey…this is more of an 'ultimate, weird competitive best friends' thing, and I'm not the 'ultimate, weird competitive best friend' type, so I'm taking Dave to see sights. Meet you back here in an hour?" Lane asked.

"Sure. Thanks, Lane."

"No problem. I understand. Well, you know, sorta. That's why I'm stealing Dave away." 

Rory laughed. "Right. See you in an hour."

"Bye!" Lane waved and dragged Dave away. Rory watched them go and then started walking.

Before long, she passed through the same entranceway she and her mother had walked through ten years ago, after Lorelai had left Max. As she walked, Rory contemplated her upcoming nuptials, stirred by the memories she had of her mother and Max.

Lorelai and Max had been close…the closest out of anyone Rory could remember, both before and since—excluding Christopher, because he was Lorelai's sore spot, was and still is. 

But Lorelai and Max had been close. Close enough for marriage—or so everyone, including both Rory and Lorelai thought. And Lorelai had loved Max, she'd told Rory that.

So what had happened? Rory wasn't sure, but she did know that Lorelai had been dateless for a while after the ending of Max, so he'd obviously made some kind of impact.

But then, Lorelai got over him. And next came…a smattering of not-there dates, and then Alex, who came quickly, and stayed for a while, but eventually just faded out. More not-there dates, eventually culminating in the Lorelai Gilmore of today—alone at home, only her daughter's wedding to look forward to.

Rory felt a little sad that her mother's dating life seemed to be over at forty-three. 

~~~~

"Here I go, off to Luke's. For coffee. Just for coffee," Lorelai tried to convince herself as she walked the streets of Stars Hollow. "I have no interest in Luke. None at all. Well, except as a coffee-provider."

Lorelai stopped in the big picture window of Luke's. She saw him running around the diner, refilling coffee cups, wiping down tables. And then he stopped, noticed her. He smiled, and waved slightly. She grinned back and started to walk in.

~~~~

Rory slowly continued making her way through the campus, eventually finding her way into a hallway lined with photographs of former Harvard valedictorians. A lone person was in the hallway, staring at a picture. Rory smiled slightly as she walked over to the girl.

"Paris." She nodded, and stood next to her friend, staring at the photo of the valedictorian of 2007.

"That should have been me." Paris said softly, waving at the picture.

"That _was_ you, Paris. Just a different school. Believe me, you made a bigger splash at Yale then you _ever_ would have made here. Besides," Rory continued, smiling bigger, "if you'd gone here, we wouldn't have been roommates."

"God, I remember when we found that out," Paris half-laughed. "I wanted to kill you."

"Me, too. I threatened to move out a thousand times."

"But you never did."

"Nope. Four years, we were roommates."

"And by the end of the four years…"

"We were best friends."

"Forever."

"Or at least four years."

"I think we'll still be friends in twenty years."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just as long as you continue to understand me like you do." Paris gestured at the wall of valedictorians.

"Don't worry. I think I will."

Paris smiled, and Rory smiled back.

"You wanna get back?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Paris nodded, and both girls started out of the building. 


	18. Boyfriend Boxes 9

1Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 18: Boyfriend Boxes 9

Summary: Um, I've lost my sheet with this on it. But, it's gonna be the b/f's talking about Rory. Mainly.

Disclaimer: Nothin'. I suppose.

A/N: Don't yell. Yeah, I know–almost two years. Well...don't yell. Just read.

I do wanna say, however, thanks for the 106 total reviews–that's just amazing. I hope all of you guys are still reading.

Noel: Man. It's kinda boring here without Rory.

Paul: You're just bored 'cause Paris isn't here.

Noel: Shut up.

Todd: Dude! That's funny, 'cause he used to like Paris!

Jess: Idiot.

Dean: Oh! I get it now!

Jess: God! Idiot!

Dean: Who are you calling an idiot, Diner Boy?

Jess: You, Bag Boy!

Noel: All right, boys, settle down.

Paul: I say we gang up and shove them in the back of the closet again.

Noel: Hey! What was I doing?

Todd: Being an idiot.

Paul: No, actually, Todd, that was you. And the high school boys.

Noel: So I still have to go back there?

Paul: No, that's okay. Perhaps we'll just send Todd back there.

Jess: No, I suggest we shove Todd off the shelf, onto the floor.

Noel: And then the two high school guys in the back of the closet!

Paul: And then we'll leave me all by myself with you! Yeah, I'd rather dive onto the floor.

Todd: I can help you out with that, man.

Noel: No, don't throw Paul on the floor. He's too nice.

Dean: I'm nice.

Jess: Silence for so long, and that's what you come up with? "I'm nice"?

Dean: Hey! I am!

Jess: Oh, yeah? Well, say hello to my "nice" fist, bag boy!

Dean: Hey! Get off me!

Jess: You get off me!

Noel: All right, that's it, into the back of the–hey!

Todd: Ha, ha, got rid of all three of them! That was great, Pa–

Paul: Yes. Silence. At long last.


End file.
